


Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

by FormidableChronicler



Series: IronDaughter [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And he's in over his head, Author Can't Tag, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Tony Stark, But Morgan is badass, Fluff and Angst, IronDaughter, Irondad, Ironfamily, Is the Softest, Morgan Stark is Awesome, Morgan is her Father's Daughter, Other, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Tony Stark, Time Travel, Tony Stark Has A Heart, and cutest, dadTony, lots of fluff and angst, so it's okay, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2020-03-20 11:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18991945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FormidableChronicler/pseuds/FormidableChronicler
Summary: Ofcoursehis daughter figured out time travel. Tony would be beaming with pride, if he weren't absolutely terrified.Pepper was going to kill him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Endgame Spoilers! Please don't read further if you haven't seen it yet!
> 
> Dad!Tony is one of my absolute favorite's so I was insanely thrilled with him being the world's softest Dad in Endgame. Then I was totally gutted by that ending, and the fact that he never got to go back to Morgan, or be IronDad again for Peter, and I just wanted more time for them all so, here we are! 
> 
> This starts up a few years after the events in Infinity War, from Tony's POV. It switches between him and teenaged Morgan, who of course learned to time travel, there's no way in heck that girl's gonna let that go! 
> 
> But she has good reason to meddle with the time stream, if only she can get past the fact that she's standing there, speaking to her Dad.... 
> 
> The title comes from Tony calling Morgan "Little Miss" in Endgame, and a song my own dad used to sing to me when I was 12 and convinced I knew everything. Kudos and comments are love, and I hope you enjoy! <3

He was in the city the first time it happened.

Trips into the city were few and far between, these days. Life after the Decimation had gotten...rough was probably a kind way to put it. Fucking batshit would be more apt. The majority of the world being in mourning tended to put a damper on basics like taking out the trash and street maintenance. Outrageous chaos didn’t help anything either. Riots, mobs, and protests were all too common those first few months. The world had gone to hell in a handbasket, and there was no telling how to get it back.

Goddamn, fucking Thanos. A grateful universe, his ass. This universe could barely keep its shit together. There was no gratefulness, only sadness. Deep, aching misery that rolled off the survivors in waves, causing numerous breakdowns and grief sessions amongst the rest of the chaos.

And fuck all if they knew how to help. The Avengers had nothing to fight anymore, no way to avenge.

That made it all somehow worse.

But after Pepper finally, finally let him out of the damn medbay, he still tried to help where he could. It was the least he could do, after all. Save the universe from a mad Titan? Sorry, Tony Stark wasn’t up for that this year, but damage control had been a crucial factor of Tony’s entire life.

That, he could do.

Helping the emergency crews was number one. If it was New York he was needed in, Tony worked there. If the riots got too bad in other cities, he’d fly out, do his best to distract and calm down the angered crowds. Food and Cap usually helped. No one could turn down Cap’s calm voice asking them to go home to the loved ones they had left. To try and keep the world remaining one the Vanished would be proud of.

Okay, Tony could ignore Cap, but he didn’t count—he’d always ignored Cap. Obnoxious superpower, thy name was Tony Stark.

They’d managed to work together anyway. Tony handed out the food and kept up the banter, then went home to work on reactors for hospitals and surgical centers to rely on when the nastiness of the ones left behind grew too cruel and threatened the weak and injured.

Then Morgan was born.

Pepper’s face when he’d announced he was officially done, retired, the world could look after itself for a change now, had been priceless.

“Really, Tony? You’re gonna make now all about YOU?”

Maybe he shouldn’t have announced his retirement the moment Pepper had brought an actual, living person into the world, but he’d never done things half-assed, no point in changing it up now.

Plus, that new and adorable person had been in his arms at that moment, sleeping peacefully. It had only taken 2.4 seconds of her being alive for him to make his declaration.

There’d be no missing this little girl’s life. Retirement, absolutely. She hadn’t even opened her eyes to look at him yet, and he’d been overcome with love for the small little person that had his hair and Pepper’s nose.

He was wildly, insanely, terrified of messing it all up.

So. Retirement.

Of course, the world being as messed up as it was, giving Iron Man up entirely was not exactly possible. But he left the major stuff to Cap and crew, and didn’t bother going to the Compound as often. Nat and Rhodey had it handled.

Tony Stark was actually needed more than Iron Man anyway, which was kinda a kick in the ass, but whatever, Tony could deal. So when he wasn’t spending time with Pepper or taking Morgan on walks and adventures, he was in the workshop working on medical advancement tools or fixing the occasional gear and suits for the remaining Avengers.

But his hours were strictly 9-5, now. Any Iron Man related activities that didn’t have him home by six were passed to Rhodey. And if his lunch hours were longer than an hour due to an adorable three-year-old, well, what the hell. He was still Tony Stark, and could get away with such things.

Which led to the occasional trip to the city. SI was one of the only companies still decently functioning, and he and Pepper were not about to let their still alive employees down. Not when they were being counted on.

So, Tony and Happy were currently heading to the city, where Tony was prepping to provide new tools to the R&D department and Happy was to get more juice pops.

“Boss,” Happy said, staring at him in the mirror. “You want me to pull into the garage or drop you off out front?”

“No need to bother with the garage, out front is fine, Happy.”

“You sure? It’s still a little unsafe in this area.”

Ever since Tony had come back from Titan— starved, dehydrated, and still suffering from a stab wound—Happy had resorted to a mother hen. Most days Tony was lucky to make it through a trip without a twenty minute spiel on the danger of the city after the Decimation.

The car pulled to the curb and Tony made his escape, grabbing the door handle. “Superhero, Hap, remember? I might be retired but I’m not lame, I can handle a crowd in front of the building.”

“Alright, but have FRIDAY call if you need backup,” Happy insisted as Tony got out.

Sticking his head back in the car, Tony asked, “What are you gonna do, nag them for non-existent badges? I’ll be fine, Nervous Nelly. Get some cheeseburgers while you’re picking up juicepops. I’ve got a hankering.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

Letting the car pull away, Tony stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the Stark Industries building. It had survived its fair share of riots, had done its job keeping the employees working inside safe during them. Should he head inside now, a security guard named Carl would stick to his side like glue the whole time he was in the building. Tony had tried to convince him more than once it wasn’t necessary, but Happy wasn’t the only one who had been affected by his little trip to space.

Carl followed Mrs. Stark’s orders to the letter, and remained at a loose follow no matter what Tony said. But really, Tony couldn’t blame him.

Married to her or not, even he was still slightly terrified of Pepper’s wrath.

If he turned right and went in, no doubt he’d be quickly ushered through the lobby and up to R&D, the ever efficient Carl by his side all day.

He turned left.

“Ansel.” Stopping at the alley nearest SI, Tony pursed his lips. “Come on, I know you’re there. Don’t leave me standing around like an idiot.”

“You were just here last week.” The sullen man stepped out of the alley, but kept himself in the shadows of the building.

“And now I’m here today,” Tony said, ignoring the man’s scowl. “What’s going on? Things treating you okay?”

“Things are fine. This area is clear. Would you stop acting like you can control everything?”

“Of course I don’t control everything, I leave that to my wife,” Tony said. “She’s got much better organizational skills.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“So you’ve said.” Ansel had once been the owner of the market across the street, before the Snap. After the Decimation...the market had been destroyed in the first days, while Tony had still been in space. And between that and the Vanished, Ansel had just stopped. Stopped trying to move on, stopped going home. Like so many others, he drifted now, and now matter how Tony tried, he refused to attempt to start going again.

But he could be counted on to tell Tony the truth.

“Come on, Ansel. Let me help. What’s needed out here?” The remaining social workers did what they could, but there wasn’t enough of them left to help everyone who had been left homeless, or run out due to the looting mobs. Not to mention they had their own problems to deal with.

“A group of teens have moved into the nearby alleys. They need clothes and shoes. And _yes_ , I suggested they go to the shelter. They refused, Stark, people will do that.”

“Yeah.” Clenching his jaw, Tony thought of kids whose entire families vanished in an instant. Fucking Thanos.

“You’ll have what you need tomorrow morning,” Tony said, stubbornly pushing away memories of the Titan and pain—-horrible, excruciating pain. Of floppy brown hair and a scared voice whispering that he didn’t want to go. It had happened, he had failed, fuck, fuck, FUCK don’t break down in the alley, Stark, Jesus Christ.

“Stark? You alright?”

“What?” Head snapping up sharply, Tony blinked at Ansel. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

If he kept saying it, one day it might be true.

Ansel didn’t look convinced—rude—so Tony started chattering about supplies until Ansel made a hasty exit back into the shadows.

Striking that off his to-do list, Tony went to head to the lobby, then paused, a flicker of awareness—of feeling watched—making him stop and look back.

The girl stood watching him between two vehicles, brown eyes bright and piercing while she frowned his way.

Not unusual, he’d been recognized since he was twelve, the Snap hadn’t changed that. But there was something flashing across her face...it was slightly hidden due to the hat she had pulled down over brown hair, but he caught the wince of agony anyway. He’d seen it on his own face every time he thought of Parker. Probably he reminded her of someone. Poor kid. She didn’t look that old—-Fifteen, sixteen, maybe. Too young to be alone in the world, too old to be sent to one of the shelters in place to care for Vanished orphans.

Around the same age as—-

Nope. _No_. Not going there. Focus on the living kid in front of you, Stark. Live in the now.

“Hey. Little Miss. You alright?”

If he’d punched her, she probably would have flinched less. Jerking back so harshly Tony wondered if she got whiplash, she shook her head frantically and ran away, hustling out of his sight before he could utter another word.

Ooookay.

Making a mental note to ask Ansel about her, Tony went inside, and promptly put it out of his mind.

The next time it happened, he was near the Compound.

Girls Day. One day a month he got kicked out of his own house so Auntie Nat could come visit and spend the day watching movies with Morgan and drinking wine with Pepper. And occasionally—-something that would never stop entertaining him endlessly—-Nebula. Danvers was always invited as well, but she’d only made it once or twice. Blue Meanie arrived far more often. She had a thing for Disney movies. The older ones, where things were slightly messed up and the villains had a terrible death.

More than once, he’d tried to stick around. But for some reason, they always chased him off—FRIDAY, the traitor, even kicked him out of the workshop.

Apparently he was distracting. Which was entirely uncalled for, he could sit and be quiet just fine.

Sometimes.

So he wandered to the Compound to visit Rhodey. But he always made a stop first.

Small towns had either successfully survived the Snap thanks to bonding together in tough times or fell horrendously to pieces. The town nearest the Compound had been a combination of the two.

Not bad, all things considered. But riots had still happened, some fairly recently, and the teams favorite diner had been destroyed. On the way to the Compound, he would stop to check on the re-building of it.

Not because he was _concerned_ , Tony Stark might have had a heart but most of it had crumpled away with a terrified teenager, and the rest was reserved solely for his wife and daughter. But he liked making sure the progress was going okay, and that he could eventually look forward to his favorite diner food again.

After checking in, and slipping the surviving owner a couple of hundreds (advances in all the cheeseburgers he would demand when they opened again, nothing to do with the despair in the man’s eyes and gaunt look on his face), he went to head to the Compound.

Brunette Hat Girl stood near his car.

Pulling up short, a good several feet away, Tony blinked at her. NYC was a hell of a long walk from here. She shouldn’t have been here, not this far out, unless...

“You following me, Little Miss?” he hollered.

Her head was tilted, and though logic screamed _stalker_ , it wasn’t the vibe he was really getting here.

“You...I didn’t know you did things like this,” she said, more to herself than anyone. “That you...that you helped random people this way.”

And fuck if his heart didn’t just stop, if his breath didn’t wheeze out of his chest like someone smacked him in the stomach with Thor’s goddamn hammer.

He _knew_ that voice. He’d never heard it before —not sounding like this— but he knew it, knew with every fiber of his being the person it belonged to, and Tony stared at her long brown hair and the bright, familiar eyes, then at a nose that resembled one he’d seen every day for the last twenty years...

Holy shit. Holyshit, holyshit, holy...

“Morgan H. _Stark_!”


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, shit.

Ohshit, ohshit, ohshit.....

She was in _so_ much trouble.

Things had been bad enough before. She was stuck, and THAT was an issue, but at least she’d gotten to see her father, at least she’d been able to help refresh his smile, his voice, in her mind. That had been part of the purpose of the whole thing—-she’d been starting to forget.

Even with all the footage and videos and recordings, she’d started to forget the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled—- _really_ smiled, those interview grins were fake, so, so fake from the father she knew. That was a mask, similar to the one her mother had worn in public her whole life.

Morgan needed to remember his real smile. Or how his eyebrows would lift in amusement at something she did, but there was always such fierce pride behind it, never annoyance.

How he’d let her snuggle up while eating juicepops and conspire together, pretending her mother had no clue she was up late eating sugary snacks.

But she wasn’t supposed to get stuck. And he wasn’t supposed to _know_ she was there.

She was in SO much trouble.

Bruce was going to kill her. Since she was five it had been drilled into her—- _you do not mess with time travel, Morgan. Just because your dad managed it does not mean you do. It’s not done. Find a new project._

As if another project would ever hold her interest.

Uncle Rhodey and Happy would be furious, too. She was supposed to just be tinkering on upgrades for Kamala. Disappearing on their watch would make them go apeshit.

And her mother would go apoplectic.

Maybe staying in this time wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Okay, okay, she knew better. But still, the idea of going back was nauseating. There was one other person who would be upset with her. Not because she’d been curious and messed with time travel—of all people, Peter wouldn’t mind as much about that. He’d understand why she needed to see her Dad.

But she hadn’t taken him with her.

That was going to cause a rift—a big one—-and out of everybody, Peter was the one person she hadn’t wanted to hurt in this adventure.

But, here she was. And her long-dead dad was gaping at her like _she_ was the one who was a ghost.

Okay, time to solve the problem. Fix-it number one: he couldn’t know who she was.

Good thing she was her father’s daughter. She’d been taught how distract and deflect with the best of them at a young age. Signature Stark smile, here we go.

“I’m sorry, what? Morgan? What is that, isn’t that some old guys name? Like, something reserved for a strange uncle?” _Babble,_ she ordered herself. Babble until he thought she was someone else. She was awesome at babbling, and kept it up while backing away as fast as she could. She had to go, had to get away. If she thought about where she was too long, if she focused too much on who was front of her...

“Yeah, nice try, Little Miss,” he interrupted, cutting her off mid-ramble, eyebrow raised.

Well, crap, that was another thing she’d forgotten. His ability to cut people off and call them out remained unparalleled. Peter was always telling her that. According to him, to this day no one came close to Tony Stark’s ability to sniff out a lie.

As if he knew her thoughts, her dad continued. “You can’t bullshit a bullshitter, Mor. And I wrote the book. I know it’s you.” He took a step forward, shaking his head, letting out a little half-laugh. “What are you _doing_ here, Little Miss?!”

“I—-“ Little Miss. _Little Miss._ He kept calling her that, just like he used to...before it all ended, before he left and never came back. Back of her throat burning, she stared at him, suddenly at a total loss at what to say to the face that was so familiar.

Blinking furiously suddenly became a high priority. If she didn’t, Morgan had the feeling tears would fall down her face like she was a leaky faucet or something.

No. no, no. She could _not_ cry here, she couldn’t do that, she had to be able to do this, to push the tears down and save the day...

“Morgan?”

Oh, God. How many times had she wished to hear his voice again? Oh god, oh god, oh, god.

“Hey. Maguna? Whatever it is, it’ll be okay. Alright?”

Too much. It was too much, too similar to the first time she’d seen him in the city, when the way he’d looked at her made her nearly collapse in on herself. Talk about emotional overload. She’d ran, as far and as fast as she could, before he could learn it was her. And then she’d sat, curled up in a library doorway, knees to her chest, nearly hyperventilating because she’d forgotten how he always smelled like cologne and motor oil, she’d forgotten how his eyes crinkled, and his laugh lit up a room, she’d forgotten, she’d forgotten, she’d....

A crack had thundered through her heart, ripping at her soul, and it was like she was five years old all over again---weeping into her mother’s arms months after the funeral because she’d finally, finally realized that he was gone and he was never coming back.

That day was forever dark in her mind. The rest of the year hadn’t been much better, despite her mom’s best attempts.

But now? The realization that he was here, she had really succeeded at this, was almost too damn much. Blurry eyes made him impossible to see for a moment, and words couldn’t make it past the lump in her throat.

Because right here, right now, her father stood in front of her.

Alive. He was _alive_ , head tilted in concern. In this time there was no second round of Thanos, not yet. Her dad hadn’t used the gauntlet. Hadn’t sacrificed himself to save the universe. There were no horrible burns covering the right side of his body, he was ALIVE...just as she remembered, just as she’d hoped...

Shuddering, she tried to calm her hitching heart-rate but all she did was manage to let out a pathetic, broken laugh that sounded more like a sob.

Reaching out to place his hands on her shoulders, her dad said, “Whatever it is, Morgan, we’ll figure it out. Since it’s us, and I’m sure we get up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans in your time, this will be just like those, and we'll be able to—-oof! Whoa there, Baby Girl. Your old man is kinda fragile, I’m not like Thor or Cap. Lighten up a bit, huh?”

“Dad.” Her arms tightened around him despite his teasing. Why wasn’t she still five, pressing her face to his chest and bawling would have been acceptable if she were five. As it was, she could barely stop the trembling. And she buried her face in his shoulder anyway.“ _Dad_.”

“Morgan.” Leaning back, he tilted his head again. “You okay?”

“I—-“ Do not tell him the truth. Do NOT tell him the truth. He couldn’t know he was dead, that she’d missed him every day the last ten years.

“I messed up.”

It was kinda the truth, but not the reason she was upset, not the reason tears threatened to drop. She _had_ made a mistake, though. And had run to the one person she knew could help correct it.

“Well, you’re a Stark,” his breath huffed out in a laugh as he wrapped her up in another hug. “We’ll fix it.”

And there—There. That was why she came, that was why she was there. Her dad could fix it.

Her dad. Her DAD.

And despite her best attempts, the tears in her eyes spilled out, and the sob in her throat wrenched free. Tears soaked his shirt, but her father said nothing, only held her close while she cried, running his hand through her hair and kissing her forehead like he had when she was little and stubbed her toe or banged up her knee after taking a flying leap off the deck.

And for the first time in ten years, Morgan felt safe.

 

 

“So.” The car had been silent during most of their trip to the Compound, her dad apparently getting that red eyes and a snotty nose meant she didn’t want to talk. But now his eyes slanted her way, one of his brows slightly arched, and Morgan held back a sigh.

Guess the questions had to start sometime.

“So?” She asked sullenly.

“On a scale of one to ten—One being 'oh rats, I blew something up in the lab' and ten being 'oh _shit_ I blew up the _actual_ lab', how bad did your mistake screw the pooch here, Little Miss?" 

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She didn’t even need to think it over. “Twelve,” she muttered.

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“That bad, huh?” His hands gripped the wheel a little tighter for a moment. “Okay. That’s...It’ll all work out. We can fix it, get you back. How the hell did you get here, by the way?”

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_I altered and used the infinity loop theory you created right before you died._

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Yeah, no, she definitely had to keep that to herself.

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“I can’t tell you that.”

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“Don’t worry about it, I’ll find some way to fix you being here. Erase my memory or something” he said, so casually she blinked. Erase his—-he couldn’t just erase her being there, he couldn’t do that! No way she was letting that happen.

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Not realizing how she’d paled, he continued. “So you can tell me everything, Morgan. What’s up in your universe?”

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_You died. You died, the universe was saved, and the Avengers won._

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_But I lost everything._

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“I messed up,” she said quietly, staring out the window. The world around her was so achingly familiar. She’d been here often, once. To visit the Avengers, especially Auntie Nat. Before Thanos appeared and obliterated it all.

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And Natasha and her father never came back.

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The sigh next to her pulled her gaze from the window as her father spoke. “Yeah, so you said. Gonna elaborate on that at all, Mor, or do I need to start guessing?”

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“I—.” Start from the beginning or just mention the most recent events? Either way, she was screwed. Might as well get it all out and over with. “I kinda found your notes on Extremis and tried to use it to save someone but messed it up and now I might have accidentally created a fire army?”

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“WHAT?” The car screeched and came to a halt in the middle of the road. “Morgan! What?!”

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Was it to much to ask to have a hole appear in the ground and swallow her? Stupid physics. Why didn’t such things happen when you needed them?

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“I know,” she groaned, curling into a ball the best she could in the seat. The look on his face....Peter told her once how horrible it felt to have Tony Stark disappointed in you, and she hated that once again, Pete was right. This was not the way she wanted this to go, she hadn’t come back just to disappoint him, to let him down! Maybe she could tell him it was a joke, that she was only kidding. That would get rid of the disappointment, but...but he had to know the truth about Extremis in order to help her.

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He was the only one who’d ever been able to stabilize it.

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Shaking his head, apparently deciding to continue the lecture, he said, “WHY would you—-you had to have known how dangerous Extremis is, Morgan, what were you thinking?! What the hell was _I_ thinking, letting you—-“

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Breaking off with a choked noise, he curled his hands so tightly around the steering wheel his knuckles turned white, then exhaled sharply through his nose.

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“My notes,” he said dully, looking at the road. “You said you found my notes.”

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If anything, the tone in his voice made Morgan curled in more on herself. That was defeat in his voice. Why was it so much worse than the disapproval? “Um. Yes? Yes, I found your notes. Please don’t be mad.”

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“Oh, Mor.” Putting the car in park, he shifted, yanking off his sunglasses. “I’m not mad. But...” he swore, then took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m dead in the time you’re from, aren’t I?”

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Her heart stuttered-- _How_ had he...Jesus, no matter what she did, she kept messing up! “What? Nooo, Dad you’re totally fine, driving Mom crazy, threatening to destroy the entire future of any boy who—-“

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“Morgan.”

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Well, crap. There was the _don't bullshit a bullshitter_ tone. Wrapping her arms around her middle, wishing she had brought Peter, she gulped, trying to figure out the best course of action. She shouldn't tell him. She really, really shouldn't. But...things were already going to hell. 

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Might as well go all in. 

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Forcing herself to meet his eyes, she said in a hoarse voice, “Yes.”

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	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has commented or kudos'd so far on this story, THANK YOU so much, I'm so glad to see all the IronFamily love! And I sincerely apologize for not updating or responding to comments recently, RL got a little bananas (there has been a lot of Rain and Possible Flooding of the dam where I live and things have been stressful and crazy and Woooooo Boy not having flood insurance when engineers are 90% sure your town is gonna flood is GREAT FUN let me tell you! All is good now, though, and insane stress aside, all is well) 
> 
> But I'm so sorry for not posting in a long while! So here's two chapters :) 
> 
> Warning for lots of Tony Angst and Tony Feels this chapter. *hugs Tony tightly, because he deserves all the love*

He was—he was——

Well, fuck.

“Mor,” he managed to get out, though he barely heard it over the roaring in his ears. Jesus, fuck, he had done it. He had done the _one_ thing he promised Pepper he wouldn’t do, the thing he swore the day Morgan was born wouldn’t happen.

He’d left them. He’d died. His kid had to grow up without her dad.

Shit. _Shit_.

“Dad?”

“I’m sorry.” It rasped out of him as he stared at Morgan—-his DAUGHTER, his baby girl. At some point, he'd left her. And Pep...oh, God.

Pepper.

Forcing the thought of how destroyed his wife had to have been (she’d known, hadn’t she always known he’d get unlucky eventually?) he blinked past the panic and grabbed his daughter’s hand. “Morgan, I don’t know what dumb ass mistake I made, or if it was just an unlucky accident or if my ticker finally kicked it, but god, Little Miss, if I had the choice I wouldn’t have left. You know that, right? You know you and your mom are the most important things in the world to me...”

Morgan’s eyes were bright while she squeezed his hand back. “Yeah, I know. Love you, 3000, remember?”

The utter randomness of the statement had him blinking. “I...what?”

“Oh. Oh, I forgot, that hasn’t happened yet...um. You made a video, Dad. Told us goodbye.”

“I don’t...” Well, hell, of course he had. It was him, after all. “So you...you’re okay? You and your mom? She alright?”

“I think so,” Morgan shifted a little, not quite looking at him. A painful vise squeezed his heart, watching her use some of his old tricks to avoid honestly answering a personal question. “You, um. You’ve been gone for...a while.”

There was a very good fucking chance if he hadn’t been sitting down his legs would have gave out from beneath him and dropped him on his ass. A while. He had been dead for _a while_. How long had his family been forced to go on without him? How long had they been alone?

“What did I...Morgan, what happened? Did I get unlucky one day? Finally get my math wrong? No, that can’t be it, my math is never wrong, and FRIDAY would never allow it. Did I just...”

“I don’t know if I should talk about it.” Morgan bit her bottom lip, exactly the way Pepper did. The sight of it made a weird little flip in his heart occur. His daughter—the very one he had kissed on the forehead a few hours ago—was here. She was fifteen, and _smart_ , God, she’d figured out TIME TRAVEL, and she was practically a grown up. She was the same age as—-

Nope. Now was not the time to think of how terribly he’d let down the kid.

Fuck, it was apparently a trend with him. Let one kid down by failing half the universe, disappoint the other by kicking the bucket.

And he thought he'd had a shitty father.

Slamming that door shut with brutal efficiency, Tony shook his head. “Right, yeah, you probably don’t wanna talk about it. God, if your grandad was suddenly alive and in front of me, I’d probably forget my own name. So. Let’s not focus on my untimely demise or me letting you down. Tell me about Extremis.”

He said it while shifting back to face the road, and turning the car back on. Slowly easing back into the highway, he waited a few minutes before prompting, “Mor?”

When she still remained silent, he took his eyes off the road to check she was still there. And thank God, there she sat (staring at him like he was a ghost, but hell, to her he pretty much was), and he let out a sigh of relief because he wasn’t sure he could really handle a disappearing act at that particular moment.

“Little Miss? You gonna tell me about Extremis or what?”

“You think we’re disappointed in you?” she asked quietly.

Well, if he’d had any doubts that Morgan was his daughter _that_ statement would have quickly vanquished them. That was Pepper’s serious voice, the tone that she got right before she sighed and said, “Oh, Tony.”

When had Morgan picked that up? Clearly she’d gotten it from her mother. Had she often received the same exasperated tone from Pep he always did?

Fuck, that was a terrible thought. The idea of Morgan being too similar to him—-spending too many lonely nights in the workshop with nothing but the bots for company because there was no one else but Pepper—-ripped at his heart. Surely Morgan was better off than he’d been, growing up. She would still have Pep, and Nat, and Happy. And Bruce and Rhodey, his science bro and platypus never would have abandoned his little girl. Shit, even Rogers would have been there for Morgan. He always lit up when the kid was around—-who didn’t? She was joy personified, a ray of sunshine in this terrible, fucked up, post-Thanos world....

“Dad?”

There was no mischievous sparkle in her eyes, now. Blazing determination, sure, but no hint of orneriness, of pure, childlike glee that always sparked behind his Morgan’s eyes at home.

Oh, God. What had happened?

“Dad! The road!”

“Shit!” He yelped, finally looking back at the road—oh HELL, he’d drifted to the opposite lane, just enough to terrify an elderly couple rapidly approaching them. Yanking the wheel, he got them back into their lane, cursing himself. _Oh, sure, get her killed, Stark, that will solve all your problems._

Fuck, how did he keep screwing it up?

“Sorry, Mor,” he sighed when the car was steady and death was no longer screaming them in the face. “Guess I got distracted. My fault.”

At least they were close to the Compound. They’d get inside and fill Rhodey in, and he could help Tony keep from messing things up further. Rhodey had always been good at that, at knowing when the step in and help Tony out of his fuck-up. Rhodey and Pep—-but he could NOT call Pepper right now. She’d straight up kill him if she found out their daughter figured out time travel.

“Dad?”

“Almost to the Compound, Little Miss.” the false cheer in his voice would have easily been dismissed by the five year old Morgan at home. If the narrowed eyes were any indication, Teenage Morgan didn’t buy it either. Inconvenient as it was, a small burst of pride rolled through him. His daughter was nobody’s fool.

But he had to keep up the nauseatingly cheerful act. What else was he supposed to do? Run around screaming _oh, shit, I’m gonna die?_

Yeah, nope.

“Dad.”

Honestly, was it too much to ask for Morgan sound more like him, and not have the Pepper Tone?

“Yep?” He asked, fingers tapping on the steering wheel. Oh, thank fuck, that was the exit. They could move on to the next steps soon and end this conversation about his failures.

“You never answered my question,” Morgan said. _Man_ , Pepper had to be proud. Their little girl was a pro at the disapproval glare.

“What question, Little Miss?” There, that was the turn, and he was pulling into the drive, and Rhodey would be there, Rhodey would help...

“You think we’re disappointed in you?”

Tony sighed, staying quiet until he pulled in front of the garage and parked the car. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I get it, Mor. Don’t feel bad about it. I kicked the metaphorical bucket and left you and your mom. Don’t sweat it.”

“DAD.” Morgan was out of the car and at his side of the vehicle in seconds. Pressing his lips together, gathering what courage he could, he got out of the car as well and glanced down at her.

“Yeah, Little Miss?”

She gripped his forearms, eyes bright and blazing—so familiar to the expression he saw in the mirror during a workshop binge, when he labored in the lab for days bringing an idea to life.

“We could _never_....” she began, and Tony nodded, knowing where this was going and about to look away, but her fingers tightened their grip and he couldn’t. “You don’t even understand....You think we’re _disappointed_ in you? Dad, you saved the _universe_.”

“Do what?” He said dumbly, because he was a genius, and his brain was on point like that. “Mor. Did you just say universe?”

Morgan’s chin trembled and her eyes watered, but she didn’t look away. “Yeah, I did. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you saved trillions. And it sucks, Dad, it really _really_ sucks, because they all got to live but Mom and I lost you in order for you to do it, but....Mom’s so proud of you. She says it all the time.”

“What?” He repeated. Had he fallen into some sort of alternate universe? TRILLIONS?!

Him?

“Mom gives a speech, every year.” Morgan dropped her hands and stepped away, biting her lip. “Mentions how when you became Iron Man, she was a wreck. Always worrying you were going to die, but at the same time she was so proud of the man you became.”

Tony let out a hysterical half-laugh, and buried his face in his hands, words from long, long ago rolling through his head.

_“If I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck. She'd always be worrying I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I've become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me...”_

Pepper. His Pepper. Only she would take his smartass words from a lifetime ago and somehow honor him with them. She was the strongest person he’d ever known, and he’d watched The Hulk take down Leviathans.

“She was crazy about you,” Morgan whispered.

“Yeah?” His eyes burned - someone had to be chopping onions nearby. “Same goes.”

“I hate that you died,” Morgan said. The vehemence in her tone had Tony blinking, staring at her. “I hate that the father that used to let me stay up late and sneak me juicepops is gone, that we never again got to walk through the woods. That my favorite person in the entire galaxy had to sacrifice himself to save us all. I _hate_ that, it never should have been you, you never should have been the one who had to...” she cut herself off, then took a deep breath while Tony gaped at her. “But I’ve never been disappointed in you, Dad. Mom’s not the only one who’s proud.”

“Morgan.” A deep, steadying breath of his own was clearly needed. His daughter was proud of him? “I—-“

“I’m sorry, did you say Morgan?” A familiar figure leaned in the doorframe, eyebrows lifted, staring from Tony to Morgan and back again. Tony cringed -- the distraction was welcome, but whoops, not exactly the best way to let your best friend learn your daughter from the future had time-traveled to visit.

As if he somehow knew what was going on, Rhodey took a small step and looked back and forth at them again. “Tony. Please tell me that’s Pepper’s cousin or something.”

“Ah.” Tony grimaced. “Not exactly, honey-bear.”

If possible, those eyebrows lifted further. “This better be good.”

"Oh, it's definitely something," Tony said.

Morgan stepped forward, sending them a small but bright smile. “Hi, Uncle Rhodey.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please excuse my terrible ignorance on all things medical/science related. I'm an English major, I know nothing about DNA coding or robotics! 
> 
> But hopefully you still manage to enjoy Morgan's chapter :)

There were several beats where Rhodey just stared at her. Morgan shifted---he was so good at keeping his thoughts hidden until he wanted them revealed that half the time she still had no clue what he was thinking. Right then it could have been anything, and she knew from experience that if he were disappointed, they were in for a long day.

Then he laughed and grinned.

“I knew it. I _knew_ when you had a kid this was gonna happen, Tones, she’s just like you. Hey, Morgan. What’d you do, figure out time travel on your own? Man, I have to bet that sticks in your craw, Tony. Your baby girl figured out time travel before you.”

Shifting on the balls of her feet, still a little thrown off by what had just happened with her dad before Rhodey showed up (Tony Stark thought his family was _disappointed_ in him, how messed up was that?!? She had to make sure he knew otherwise while she was here, that he was the guy everyone in the universe looked up to—She and Peter most of all....) Morgan coughed and cleared her throat. “Not exactly.”

All the good humor fled from Rhodey’s face, and he looked away from Morgan to her dad. “I see. One of those visits, huh?”

“Let’s go fill you in,” said her dad, and they all went inside.

 

 

 

Uncle Rhodey hadn’t changed at all in ten years.

Seated at the counter in the common living area, Morgan ate a juice pop and waited for her father and uncle to stop whispering at each other.

Knowing Rhodey, it would be a while. She couldn’t exactly recall how he’d been when she was five, but now that she was fifteen? He wanted to know _everything_ , and was determined to keep her out of harm’s way. Like it was his life’s mission, like he’d promised her dad he’d always keep her safe. 

He probably had.

It was just too bad for him she had no desire to stay sitting quietly on the sidelines.

At least the juice pop was good. She’d forgotten how much she’d loved them. After her dad died, well....Too many memories of sneaking out of bed and sharing one with him were associated with them. Here, in the Compound with her dad only a few feet away, it wasn’t so bad. She could enjoy the iced treat, and let the familiar surroundings soothe her a little.

She’d loved visiting this place. Everything was so sleek, so sophisticated. And something was always buzzing, people were always rushing around, still trying to save the world even though Thanos had decimated half of it.

Right now, it was suspiciously quiet, but she supposed that was because Nat was with her mom and herself (WEIRD) and Steve and Bruce were in the city. Carol and Nebula were off somewhere in space with Rocket.

Eventually, the juice pop was gone and Morgan grew bored. Leaning on the stool so her voice carried down the hall, she hollered, “Are you two ever going to come back, or....?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are we boring you?” Rhodey asked, strolling back in. “You know how you could fix that? You could go home. I can just feel my future self having a heart attack at the discovery that you’re gone. Spare me the heart attack, Morgan. Go home.”

“She just got here, honey-bear, she’s not going anywhere yet,” her dad argued. Morgan shook her head—-another thing she’d forgotten was his ridiculous nicknames for everyone, especially Rhodey.

“I can’t go back until Dad helps me with Extremis,” she said.

“Uh yeah, about that.” Her dad leaned on the counter and arched an eyebrow. “Fill us in on the deets, please. Why did you decide Extremis was the best possible solution?”

Did he just.....“Please _never_ say ‘fill us in on the deets’ again, no one said that ten years ago and no one definitely says it now,” Morgan said, cringing. Hearing that had just been wrong. Peter said her dad had always been the cool guy, but that had been terrible. Thank God no one else had been around.

“Oh, I’m suddenly not the coolest person in the room anymore? Maybe I’ll go back to the Morgan at the lake house, she would have found that hilarious.”

“Pretty sure no one would ever think that’s hilarious, Tony,” Rhodey scoffed. Morgan grinned at him, and her dad rolled his eyes.

“Oh, come on! You two can’t team up on me, this is not fair, that is just...I can see you laughing over there, Little Miss. This is not funny, the idea of the two of you teaming up is actually slightly terrifying, I...stop laughing, platypus, this is serious!”

“Sure, Tones.” Rhodey sent her another conspiring smile and Morgan suddenly _did_ feel awful for ditching the Rhodey she’d left at home. She knew how much he cared for her dad, everyone was always telling her how close they’d been, and she remembered a bit herself, but seeing it in person now she was older....

Peter wasn’t the only one that would be hurt by this.

Smile vanishing, Morgan looked down at the counter.

“Mor?”

“I should probably tell you both what happened,” she said quietly. It was best for them to know what she had been working on, what she had left...

What she had done.

'Sounds good. Fill us in, Little Miss," her dad said, sitting on a stool of his own.

Right. Okay. She could do this.

“A few months ago....” she paused, taking a deep breath. Even here she didn’t like to think of it, to say it out loud. “A few months ago, Mom got sick.”

Rhodey’s eyes widened, then he closed them slowly, shaking his head. Her dad stared at her, stricken, the color slowly draining from his face at her statement.

Yeah. That was how she'd felt about it for the last six months, too.

But she needed to tell the rest.

“At first she thought she was working too much,” Morgan continued, blinking. Crying wouldn’t help, the thousands of tears she’d shed so far hadn’t done a thing. But taking action, that would help her mom.

Her dad would help figure it out.

“After she took a vacation, and slowed down a little...” Morgan paused, pressing her lips together. Then cleared her throat and said, “Anyway, it didn’t help. She got worse. And they don’t know what it is, why she’s fading so fast, so I thought...I thought....”

“You thought you’d look into Extremis and see if that would help,” Rhodey finished for her. Her dad still sat, stunned, on the bar stool, eyes wide and bright while his hands shook where they rested on the counter.

She had to make him understand. She wasn’t reckless, she hadn’t made the decision lightly, why wasn’t he saying anything?? Nerves racing among her spine like lightning, she explained, “Mom’s the only one who wasn’t destroyed by Extremis, she had the best successful integration of it, ever, even with all that man Killian put her through, so I thought I could use it to help her, I thought I could make her better....”

“Morgan,” her dad said hoarsely.

But the word vomit didn’t stop, she just kept talking. “I didn’t just gather some Extremis and inject her with it, I swear I didn’t, I got help, some brilliant scientists looked at it with me, but see that’s where I went wrong, because they are apparently terrible people—-which, who knew?!?” She babbled, because this was everything, she had to make him see what had happened, and if she didn’t explain it right, if she somehow got it wrong _again_...

That she couldn’t handle.

“...and they tried using on themselves —because bad guys, right?— and now they’re kinda fire people and Rhodey and Bruce and Pe—, Mom figured out what I did and they are _mad_ and I need your help, please help me fix this and save mom, dad, please. _Please_ help me fix Mom, I can’t lose a parent again, I can’t, I—-“

“MORGAN.”

Blinking, Morgan gaped at him, confused to see her dad standing in front of her. Hadn’t he just been at his own seat? But he was, he was standing by her, wrapping her up, and man, a hug from her dad was nice, she didn’t care how weird it was that technically it was from a dead man.

“Of course I’ll help,” he murmured into her hair. Rhodey made a soft sigh behind them, but her dad ignored him, and leaned back to look Morgan in the eyes.

“Of course I’ll help your mom, Little Miss, Christ, it’s _Pep_ , I could never...we’ll figure it out. We’ll fix it all, alright? Whatever it takes.”

The grin he sent was bright, and certain, as if he meant to encourage her with it, as if he’d meant to leave no doubt in her mind that the problem could be easily solved.

But she stared at him in horror as the words replayed through her mind.

_Whatever it takes._

He’d made that vow before.

 

 

 

 

Not falling apart again was put high on Morgan’s list as they made their way to her dad’s workshop at the Compound. She’d been here half a day and had completely melted down twice - how were they supposed to take her seriously if she kept blubbering every ten minutes? But her dad and Rhodey hadn’t seemed to mind. In fact, they were more interested in what she had done with Extremis and how to fix Pepper than they were with her tear-stained face. Which was why they were going to the workshop.

The problem was, there was one slight hiccup.

“I swear to God, FRIDAY, if you do not unlock that door and let us in, I’m donating you to the closest city college, I don’t care that Morgan says you’re helpful to her in the future.”

“You’re not authorized, Boss.”

“I created you, _I_ decide who is and isn’t authorized! Let me in, you faithless program, or I’ll reboot you to be nothing more than a first-generation Siri, bugs and everything. I know how much you hate Siri.”

“Cheap threats don’t work on me, Boss. And any workshop access you have after you have been awake more than forty-eight hours must be authorized by Mrs. Stark. You’re on hour fifty, Boss. You need sleep.”

“Workshop binge,” he explained to Morgan while she gaped at him. “Bruce needs a new uniform that fits Professor Hulk, and Blue Meanie needs some connectors that won’t get fried to hell when Rocket’s test blast ‘’accidentally’ hit her. And I think Nat feels neglected, so I’m making her new tasers.”

“Uh,” Morgan said. Fifty hours without sleeping?? Peter had said her dad kept odd hours but that was insane. She tried to imagine her mother reacting to Morgan working for that long, and just couldn’t. No wonder FRIDAY wouldn’t let them in. She could just hear her mother’s voice—dangerously close to screeching—lecturing Morgan about the importance of sleep schedules.

Apparently she’d had plenty of practice with that lecture on her dad.

“It’s not like I _knew_ Morgan would be visiting from the future, Fry, I would have gotten decent sleep if I had, but she’s here now and she needs my help and we can _not_ call Pep, so just Open Sesame. Let’s go, chop chop.”

“I’ll make sure he sleeps,” Rhodey said, and the doors opened.

“All right, Boss. But only because Colonel Rhodes will play baby-sitter.”

“Traitor,” her dad muttered, glaring at the ceiling. As he walked in, the lab lit up, casting blue and green hues on him and Rhodey. “All right, lets get to work, pull up my Extremis file. No, the right file. Don’t give me the crap Hansen had, I don’t want to blow people up. She never did get the receptors right. Wait, alter that sixty percent, and....hmmmm. Lemme think on the inhibitors. From what Mor said we aren’t regrowing but repairing.”

“Tony. Hey. Tony!" Rhodey said. He was completely ignored, and sighed. "So that’s how it’s gonna be, Stark? Jump straight into the science stuff and ignore the rest of us?” Rhodey asked, but he was still totally ignored as her dad immersed himself in holographs and bantered with FRIDAY. “Come on, Morgan, lets go get some dinner, this could take a while....”

“No, no, stop,” Morgan interrupted. Strolling to her Dad (who had blinked, then beamed at her) she said, “That’s what Hansen did wrong too, Dad, you can’t splice that strand with DNA, you have to rework it a little, that’s how I started when I first got your notes, and it was working well until Smith got ahold of it.” She’d left a few steps out but her dad was already on the same page, twirling the image in front of him and narrowing his eyes.

Rhodey pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh, there’s two of you now? There’s two of you geeking out and ignoring me now, that’s great,” he muttered.

Her dad snorted, but didn't look at him as he said, “So you started with a small injection? And what, that kept it narrowed down to a specific part of the body?”

“And kept people from exploding.” Morgan nodded.

“Fifteen years old and she’s talking about scientific serums that can make people explode,” Rhodey rolled his eyes. “What did I expect? I really should have known better, Tones, you made things explode on a regular basis when you were fifteen.”

“Daily,” her dad said, lifting his head to grin. “I made things explode on a daily basis, honey-bear. Get it right.”

With a long, drawn-out sigh, Rhodey said, “I’m gonna go order a pizza.”

“Extra cheese!” Her dad yelled as Rhodey walked off. Then he quirked a brow at Morgan. “What are you standing around for, Little Miss? We’ve got work to do, get over here, I need your eyes.”

Morgan hurried over, grinning wider than she had in years.

 

 

 

 

 

Hours later, Morgan’s hair was in a ponytail, a coffee cup was in her hand, and she wore her dad’s old MIT sweatshirt to ward off the cold. A smudge of grease was on her cheek—she’d gotten intrigued by one of the newer robots her dad had puttering around and had been tinkering with it while they ran simulations on Extremis and waited for the results.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy.

With a yawn so large it reminded her of an exaggerated cartoon character, her dad turned from the simulations and tilted his head at her. “So. Biological DNA coding? That your thing?” he asked, leaning on the counter, then taking a large gulp of coffee. “Are you heading to study the wonders of biology after high school? Oh, god. Are you in high school? They didn’t streamline you straight to college, did they? Pep and I talked about that, she swore...”

“I’m not in college yet,” Morgan said, taking a sip of her own coffee. Her caffeine habit drove her mom crazy, but her dad had only smiled and handed her an old Iron Man mug when she’d asked for a cup. “Some of my instructors wanted me to jump ahead, but Mom’s been pretty firm about me having a ‘normal’ childhood.” As much as someone who’s father saved the _universe_ could. Really, it was laughable if she thought about it. “I’m going to Midtown School of Science and Technology, actually.”

He froze. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, Pe—-we had a good recommendation for it,” she said. Shit. She was going to need to be better about not letting Peter’s name slip. She’d already said so much, who knew what would happen if she revealed the Snap had been undone??

“But no, biology isn’t my thing,” she said quickly, hoping to distract him. “I’m um. I’m more interested in robotics, actually.”

His mug slowly lowered. “You are?”

“Of course,” Morgan laughed. Was he kidding? Robots were far cooler than biology. “I grew up with Dum-E and FRIDAY, how could I _not _be interested? And I’ve got a great way to make them relevant, using some of your nanotechnology and my ideas. To help keep Stark Industries focused on clean energy, and protecting the planet? See, I’ve got these little nanobots that can go out and clean up the ocean, or the desert, or jungle, and do it ten times faster and more efficient than humans. The whole planet could be cleaned up in less than ten years, and...Dad? Why are you staring, you look like a fish on a hook, blink or something.....”__

____

“I’m sorry, but that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard and I invented Iron Man. Your mom know about this?” 

____

“Yep! She’s all for it. Helped me pick out a name, and everything. We’re calling it the Footsteps Initiative, for cleaning up our carbon footprints, and for...” Breaking off, Morgan blushed. 

____

“For?” Her dad prompted, brows lifted. 

____

“For following in certain footsteps,” Morgan said, trying not to duck her head and be embarrassed. She was proud of him, she didn’t want him thinking otherwise, especially with the conversation they had had earlier. She just had never thought she’d be telling him about it like this one day. 

____

“Following in _your_ footsteps,” she continued. “Protecting the planet. That sort of thing.” 

____

He made a choking noise, and she had to hunch her shoulders and look down. Man, had she been smart in grabbing coffee or what? Using it to give herself a moment, she took a large sip. Then looked over to where her dad stood, once again looking stunned. 

“Morgan. Little Miss. I’m honored. I don’t even know what to say. That’s incredible, Mor, way better than anything I did at fifteen.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He lifted his mug in a salute. A fierce ball of warmth spread through her at the way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled - just the way she remembered. “Way to go, Morguna. Now tell me all about the nano tech you’ll be using. Break it down for me kid, what are those little bots gonna get up to?” 

Settling into the old workshop couch with her coffee, feeling lighter than she had been in ages, Morgan curled up on the seat, and told him all about it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Footprint Initiative is totally stolen from RDJ's announcement of his involvement with the Footprint Coalition, which is going to be doing pretty much what Morgan described and is totally amazing, if you haven't heard about it yet, check it out! (I'd feel bad about using it but it fits PERFECTLY and I don't think RDJ would really mind!)
> 
> Also.
> 
> Happy Father's Day, Tony <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IronFamily Feels ahead. <3
> 
> *Snurgles Tony, Morgan, and Pepper*

The universe was goddamned weird.

Tony stood to the side of the couch, utterly transfixed by the sight in front of him. Morgan slept curled up on her side, having passed out waiting for the simulations to finish. God only knew how long it had been since she had slept last—-it hadn’t escaped his notice that she refrained from commenting on her time traveling much. He’d let it sit for a bit longer, but eventually, he’d need to get a few more answers.

For now though, he shook his head in amazement. If it hadn’t been for her (his? Weird, weird, weird) dark hair and the slightly darker tone of skin, he could have sworn the young woman on the couch was a teenaged Pepper. Their noses were the same—he had noticed that earlier—but now that Morgan was relaxed in sleep Tony could see the small freckles sprinkling that nose, exactly like her mother’s, and that their cheekbones were nearly identical. Not to mention how Morgan curled up with her head pillowed on her right side, mouth slightly open while she snored lightly—in the exact same position Pep catnapped in on the couch after a long week at the office.

It made his heart twist painfully—he needed Pepper, needed to call his wife and assure himself she was fine. Logically, he knew she was, but Morgan’s reveal on Pepper’s illness had made his insides freeze—a terrible, excruciating pain that hadn’t fully left, even through all the awesome science-ing he had done with Morgan. Pepper couldn’t get sick, Pepper couldn’t die. It wasn’t even an option. Weird and crazy as it was that his daughter had time-traveled, he was also so insanely _grateful_ , because if he really was dead and gone, then Morgan needed Pepper, and Pepper needed to live, and Tony could do that. Tony could help.

He needed Pepper to live. He needed to know she’d be fine if Morgan was right---if he'd died and went off to the spirit in the sky. He’d never be able to rest otherwise.

Right. The tightening in his chest indicated that he really needed to call Pepper. It had been a hell of an odd day. Seeing her would help. Touching her in person—sliding his hands through her gorgeous hair, over her soft skin, feeling the way she would sigh and relax beneath him—would ground him further, but she was at the lake house and going there was out of the question.

He’d have to take what he could get.

Prepared to do just that, he turned, but out of the corner of his eye he caught Morgan’s eyelids twitch, and frowned. Seconds later, his daughter’s lips tilted down in a frown of her own, snarling at something in her sleep. Tony blinked—-Shit, did he wake her up, or let her sleep? A frown didn’t have to mean a nightmare, just because that was what he was used to. It could be nothing more than an annoyance in the dream.

But she seemed so unhappy.

Unsure if he should to go over and try to soothe her, he sat down his coffee mug, but Morgan sighed and fell back into a more relaxed slumber.

Well. That was that, then.

Looking back at the simulations, Tony yawned and then rubbed his eyes. Who would have thought he’d be back working on Extremis? Aldrich Killian and Maya Hansen seemed like ages ago— before Thanos, before the horrible fight with Steve. Hell, even before _Ultron_. Christ, that had been a mess. Once again the past was back to haunt him.

But he would make damn sure the future wasn’t affected.

Sending one more glance at Morgan, who had gone back to sleeping soundly, he stepped over to the side of the lab and pulled out his phone.

“Fry, get me Pep,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

But the person who answered wasn’t Pepper.

“Daddy!” Morgan’s small face - 3 year old Morgan, the one he had left that morning, —peered up at him from the phone. “Are you on your way back yet?”

“Hey, Little Miss,” he said, as gently as he could. No point waking up Teenage Morgan by talking to her past self.

Weird. His day was fucking weird.

“I can’t come home just yet, small fry,” he said, internally cringing. Letting down Small Morgan to help Teenage Morgan wasn’t what he wanted, and he braced himself for a pouty lip or disappointed eyes.

Instead he got a serious look and a head tilt. “Is it ‘Venger stuff?”

“Ah. Yeah. It’s Avenger stuff.” Kind of. Was Morgan an Avenger in the future? Shit, that was a scary/insanely awesome thought. Awesome for him. Terrifying for Pepper. He needed to make Mor some armor, just in case.

Small Morgan stared at him another few moments, then nodded. “Okay, Daddy. Go help Uncle Rhodey. The ‘Vengers need you.”

“Morguna.” Christ, how had he gotten so lucky in the kid department? “You’re the best, you know that, right?”

“That’s what Mommy says, too.” She beamed. “But I’m not su’posed to brag.”

Snorting out a laugh, Tony beamed right back at her. “Brag all you want, Baby Girl. You’re the best, and the world needs to know it. You know I love you, right?”

“I love you, too!” She smiled. “And since I’m the best, I can watch more Elmo, right? I really wanna watch more Elmo.”

“Nice try. No more Elmo, Elmo drives Mommy crazy. Go to bed, or we won’t get ice cream tomorrow.”

“Happy says you’ll always get me what I want.”

“Well, then, Happy’s fired,” Tony said, trying his best not to laugh. But hell, it was true.

“Daddy. You won’t fire Happy.”

Dammit, his lips were twitching. “Alright, I give, I won’t fire the Forehead of Security. But it’s past your bedtime, Little Miss, and I need to talk to your mom. Hand her the phone and scamper off to sleep.”

“Will you read me a story tomorrow?”

“Two,” Tony swore, and when her eyes lit up, he grinned back. “I’ll even make it an Elmo one if you _go to sleep_.”

“Okay, Daddy!” Blowing him a kiss, she handed the phone over, giving Tony a wild view of the carpet, and then the ceiling. “Love you!” Her voice said from offscreen.

“Love you too,” he choked out, barely able to say a word. Did she know? Did she have any idea how much he cared for her, how he’d burn the world to ash to keep her safe?

His eyes flicked over to the teenager on the couch. God, he hoped she knew. If nothing else, he’d do his best to show her while she was here. 

“Tony?”

At Pepper’s voice, his eyes snapped back to the phone, and that tight knot in his chest squeezed painfully at the sight of his wife. “ _Pep_.”

Beautiful blue eyes narrowed at him in concern. “Tony?” she asked again. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” he said automatically, because when had he ever answered otherwise? “But, you...are you okay? You feel alright, honey? Nothing hurts, nothing feels odd, not feeling too tired?”

Those gorgeous eyes narrowed further. “What’s going on?”

“What? Nothing!”

“Tony.”

 _God_ he wished he could hold her, just for a second. She’d always been what he needed. Sighing, he said, “You know me too well. But I’m fine, Pep, I promise. Just work stuff, and...” Morgan’s words echoed in his mind.

_“A few months ago, Mom got sick....After she took a vacation, and slowed down a little...it didn’t help. She got worse. And they don’t know what it is, why she’s fading so fast....”_

“I just need to know you’re okay,” he said finally. “You’re okay, right, Pep?”

“Well, Natasha convinced me to have a third glass of wine so I’m feeling a bit more floaty than normal but otherwise I’m perfectly fine, Tony.” She smiled softly at him. “I can show you how good I am when you get home.”

Ah, hell. That was just...ignoring the shiver that raced through him at the promise in her words, trying to push down the images _that_ promise brought to mind, he said, “I’m not going to be able to make it home tonight, honey.”

“Oh.” Disappointment flashed, but like Morgan, she didn’t complain. Seriously, how had he gotten so lucky? “Well, we can make it an adventure for tomorrow. You’ll be home, then? I heard promises for stories and ice cream.”

“Yeah,” he said, wondering what tomorrow would bring, but vowing not to break his promise. He’d find a way. “I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Good,” Pepper said. “We’ll be waiting.”

“I love you,” he blurted. She needed to know, too. If Morgan was right, and he’d died, Pepper should know, she deserved to know. She was it for him. His other half, his _better_ half. It was always Pepper.

Her eyes softened. “I know, Tony. I love you too.”

Shit, this had gotten way too sappy, she was going to be super suspicious soon. Calling on his smartass abilities, he waggled his brows at the screen. “Yeah? How much? Care to give me a quick demonstration?”

“Not that much,” she laughed. “Go, get back to Rhodey. Have him keep you in check.”

“Well, I doubt even he can do that, but I’ll let him try.”

“Good,” she said, eyes still laughing.

“Night, Pep.”

“Goodnight. Oh, and Tony? Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out.” Smiling softly, she added, “You always do.”

That damn tightening in his chest was back, but this time, it wasn’t from fear. “Pepper. You...fuck, how do you always know....?”

“Because I know you,” she said. “Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”

He grinned, the old joke lighting him up. “That will be all, Mrs. Stark.”

The phone clicked off and the screen went black. Tony grinned at it for another few moments before pocketing it and turning to go get his coffee.

Morgan stood staring at him, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh, shit, Little Miss! Mor?! Maguna, you okay?” Oh hell, oh fuck, what was wrong? What had he done, why was she upset, why wasn’t she saying anything?! Rushing over, he ran his hands up and down her arms, scanning for injuries even though it was completely impossible for anything to have gotten in and hurt her while he was right there and FRIDAY was monitoring them.

“Morgan? Please say something, honey, what’s wrong, what’s...”

“Mom,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect....that was _Mom_ , and she’s okay, and you’re okay, and you two are _happy_....”

Tony’s heart shattered into a million pieces. “Hey, hey, hey, it’ll be okay, Maguna, your mom will be alright. Okay? I promise. She’s gonna be fine, Morgan, I can fix this. Pepper will be fine.”

He’d sell his soul to ensure it, if he had to.

Shaking her head, Morgan pushed back a little. “You don’t understand. I forgot, I didn’t realize....”

“Tony?”

Oh, that was just great. Pepper had neglected to mention super spy assassin lady was on her way home. “Not now, Tash, I’ll be up in a minute.”

Undeterred, the Black Widow strode into the lab, hair in an elaborate updo and fake makeup all over her face thanks to playing dress up with Morgan on Girls Day. “Stark. Who is that?” 

Hell, did he tell her the truth? He’d told Rhodey, but at some point everyone knowing about Morgan time traveling was guaranteed to be a bad, bad idea. 

But it wasn’t like he could easily lie to Natasha Romanoff.

“Uh.....” he said, stalling for time, mind whirling while he filtered through a dozen excuses.

Morgan spoke before he could use any of them.

“Auntie Nat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't start out imagining quite so many reunions in this, but here we are! But I promise (though there is ONE more reunion after Nat, and I'm sure you can all guess who....) the timey-wimey aspects and plot of this story picks up soon!


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, her rule about not crying anymore had clearly been blown right out of the water. Rubbing at her eyes, Morgan cringed a bit at the knowledge that she hadn't even made it a night. If there were a list for vows quickly abandoned, she had to be at the top.

Although it wasn't exactly like this was an ordinary trip. Emotions were bound to be high, etc. etc. She could spin any excuse she liked. She didn't need to worry about saving face, but she was getting annoyed by the headaches she kept getting due to the crying jag.

But really. How was she supposed to keep it under control? Hearing her dad and mom interact, listening to them being _happy_....

It wasn’t a thing she saw often, parents still liking each other and being in love. Most of her friends parents were divorced, or still working through the “half the population disappearing” thing. Happily married couples wasn’t exactly the status quo in Morgan’s life.

But the fondness in her dad’s eyes as he stared at his phone, the happy laughter in her mom’s voice....that hadn’t been faked. Not even a little. That was what the stories and the movies were all about, that true love notion, and not for the first time Morgan wished like hell that Thanos had never arrived to destroyed their world.

Her world.

At five, she'd had been too little to really get the dynamics of her parents marriage. All she knew was that she was happy, and her dad made her mom laugh a lot, and that seemed pretty great.

No wonder her mom never remarried, never showed the slightest hint of interest in someone else. Morgan had always sort of wondered, but even when her Mom dated, she never kept with it long. Morgan got it, now, after watching her mom and dad together. That sort of bond, that kind of connection....she only caught a glimpse of it but she doubted it could ever be duplicated. They had seemed so happy.

So, yeah. Waterworks. Her parents had deserved so much better.

But if she’d thought _that_ had been a kick in the ass, it was nothing, _nothing_ , compared to seeing Natasha Romanoff stroll into the lab, as incredible and amazing as Morgan remembered, her red-blonde hair piled on her head in a messy updo Morgan knew she herself had done. Just as the bright blue eyeshadow and horrendously pink blush had come from the tiny little makeup kit Nat had bought Morgan for her third birthday.

Though her chin wobbled, Morgan pressed her lips firmly together to keep a sob from sneaking out. There had been enough crying and headaches for one day, thank you very much.

Natasha stopped in front of her, tilted her head, and said, “Auntie Nat?

Morgan winced. If there was a _Worse Time Traveler Ever_ award, she was pretty sure she’d win it. Literally everyone knew she was traveling in time.

That was gonna get complicated.

“Um....” she said, wondering if she should even bother. “About that. You...see, it’s a new nickname...thing....”

Her dad sighed. “Cat’s out of the bag, Little Miss. There’s no lying to Romanoff. Right. Ah. Morgan in the future learned to time travel and came back to this time for some help.”

Natasha didn’t even blink, just assessed Morgan as she would a threat. “It wouldn't be the strangest thing we've dealt with." Then a smile slowly spread across her face. “You figured out time travel before your dad?”

“Hey!” her dad protested. "I could figure out time travel if I wanted."

Morgan ducked her head. Rhodey had asked the same thing--what was it with the adults in this time? They both assumed she was a genius like her dad was, that she’d figured out solutions to problems. And that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

She only seemed to make things worse.

Her dad was too busy grumbling to notice Morgan’s attempt to hide and dodge the question. But Natasha didn't. With a slight narrowing of her eyes, Nat said, “I'm sure FRIDAY would love to hear all about your time travel equations while you got some coffee, Tony.”

From his scowl, that didn't go over well. “I’m sorry, what? Are you kicking me out of my own lab? Where my own daughter currently is? This is the thing you are doing?”

“Get something to drink for Morgan also. And I’d like some tea.”

Huffing, her dad shoved his hands on his hips. “Anything else, Your Highness?”

“Cookies would be nice.”

Morgan stifled a laugh at his outraged expression, wishing she could just stay in this time and watch the two of them banter forever. Safe in the knowledge that her mother was also here, and Rhodey, and Happy.

But then she would lose Peter.

Her dad sniffed, drawing her attention back his way. “Fine. Sure. Cookies and coffee at 10pm, why the hell not?” Throwing his arms in the air, he strode toward the doors. “You’re lucky I like you, Romanoff. And that I’m terrified you are going to murder me in my sleep.”

“Extra chocolate chip!” Natasha demanded as he stalked out. Then she turned back to Morgan. “What’s wrong, Morgan?”

Now was not the time to panic, Natasha would see through any lies in ten seconds. But what did she say? _No worries, Aunt Natasha! I screwed up time travel and left Peter alone to deal with the fire people problem I created, but it's all fine, I've got it handled?_

That just sounded pathetic, even in her head.

Letting out a small laugh, Morgan instead said, “Everything is fine, why would you think that...”

“Morgan.”

It wasn’t a reprimand, it really wasn’t. But the fact that Natasha didn’t believe her—even though it was spot on— had Morgan’s face turning red. “I can’t tell you what’s wrong.”

Natasha’s expression didn’t change at all. But Morgan could tell that she was still convinced there was more to the story.

“I see,” was all Natasha said. “Guess I won't asking too much about your time. I was never fond of Back to the Future anyway.”

“Auntie Nat, I—“

“Don’t worry, Morgan, it's fine. Let’s move on. Are you too big to give your aunt a hug now, or what?”

Morgan bit the inside of her cheek to keep her eyes from watering. Never, never had she actually thought she'd get the opportunity to see Nat again. Her father had at least left a goodbye message. But Nat? 

She never got the chance for goodbyes.

“Of course I can still give you a hug," Morgan said, swallowing past the lump in her throat. Jeez. If she dealt with any more emotions she'd be like a Disney movie. "I need to keep in practice, after all.”

The wide grin that crossed Nat’s face made her know she had said the right thing. Stepping forward, Natasha wrapped Morgan up in a tight hug, the familiar hint of her favorite perfume—not floral, but more like a hint of lavendar—-calming Morgan’s nerves, nearly making her relax into the embrace.

Then she planted her feet and twisted.

It threw Natasha off for maybe half a second, which wasn’t nearly enough to throw her off her game. So instead of trying to take the Black Widow down, Morgan went after the knife she knew Natasha had sheathed on her hip.

When Morgan danced back, the knife in her hand, Natasha burst out laughing.

“Well done.” Her grin grew while Morgan twisted the knife this way and that, testing it out. “You’ve been practicing.”

“Every day.” Morgan confessed. It had taken some time, but once she’d convinced Steve that Natasha had already started to train her (he was shocked she’d started when Morgan was three, but honestly it was _Natasha_ , what did he expect?), he’d relented and agreed to continue that training in Natasha’s honor.

It was weird being trained by a guy that was well over a hundred years old, but Morgan would take what she could get. And it wasn’t like Rogers had much else to do in his free time, with Sam being Captain America and Bucky leading the rest of the Avengers with him.

Besides. He needed someone around to keep him young. 

At Natasha’s impressed eyebrow raise, Morgan continued, “I don’t dare try it on Mom or Rhodey, but Happy and P—Bruce fall for the hug attack all the time. Auntie Carol’s taught me a few tricks as well. I'm not allowed to train with Nebula anymore, though.”

There had been an incident with a blaster and a hole in the ceiling. Morgan had found it hilarious, Steve had aged another ten years.

Natasha laughed again. “Yes, sparring with Nebula might be best to wait on for a few more years,” she agreed. “Keep it up, Morgan. Keep them on their toes."

Stomping on the stairs had both of them turning—-Morgan’s dad stormed in, a mug on each hand, a bottle of Sprite hooked into his elbow, and a bag of cookies in his teeth.

Eyes wide, his mouth dropped open and the bag of cookies fell to the floor.

“Romanoff!” He complained, staring at Morgan. “I’m gone five minutes and you’ve got my daughter throwing daggers? Really?! This is not Assassins R Us, La Femme Nikita, Mor doesn’t need to be whirling knives like she’s a tiny apprentice.”

“Actually, I’ve been her apprentice since I was three,” Morgan said, just to see his reaction.

The dropped coffee and insane amount of cursing that followed was worth it.

“Natasha!”

“I promised you and Pepper I would do whatever it takes to keep her safe when she was born,” Natasha said. “Did you really think I wouldn’t train her?”

“She’s three!”

“And has excellent aim. Don’t sputter at me, Stark, it makes the vein in your forehead pop and we know how you hate that.”

“I DO NOT—“

“See, there it is. Settle down, Tony, The Vein is looking angry. You won’t like it when it’s angry.”

“Nat!”

Arms crossed, Natasha grinned at him. “Yes?”

“She started off teaching me with fake knives, Dad,” Morgan said, just to lower his blood pressure. The Vein really was popping out. “It was all very safe. Much safer than that time when you took me flying over the lake.”

His mouth opened, closed it, then opened it again before he jabbed a finger at her. “No inheritance for you. You promised not to tell your mother or your aunt about that. And you were perfectly safe, FRIDAY promised.”

“FRIDAY also says Dum-E is good at making smoothies,” Morgan said, and he burst into laughter.

“Fair point. Okay, let’s all pretend we never had this conversation. Coffee, I need more coffee. You coming, Sneaky Training Lady, or do you have more Padawans to corrupt?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t start building Morgan a suit the second she was born.”

“I have no idea what you just said, I’ve suddenly developed the ability to not hear slanderous lies. And it was just the schematics, I never actually built anything,” he said to Morgan as they strolled up the stairs. “So don’t get too excited. No suit for you.”

Morgan thought about what awaited her at home. “Okay, Dad,” she said. 

 

 

 

 

“So. Time travel.” Natasha said, glancing up. Above them, an infinity loop, something Morgan knew better than her own hand, swirled in blue and gold. “That’s a thing.”

“Yeah.” Morgan sprawled out on the floor next to Natasha, the spy tilting her head every few seconds to study the loop swirling above them. Morgan was using her dad’s sweatshirt as a pillow, while her dad himself stretched out on Morgan’s other side, his head right next to hers. 

“This is gonna sound really responsible, which isn’t me at all, but how worried do we need to be about knowing all this, Mor?” Her dad asked. “You said time travel’s been used a few times before. Is time linear, or is the wibbly-wobbly theory more accurate?”

“Wibbly-wobbly,” Morgan said instantly. “What happens in the past won’t change my future, because I have a way to get back to the exact point I’m supposed to. It won’t have changed at all.” She glanced down at the small watch on her wrist. “As long as you can help me fix my watch.”

Her dad’s head shifted, moved to look at her. “The watch you used to go through the Quantum Realm.”

“Uh huh.” Morgan cringed. Her dad got a tone when it came to Hank Pym and the Quantum Realm. Maybe it was because Hank always irritated him, always tried to make her dad look bad.

But it was probably because of the risks she took to get here.

Natasha reached for the notebook she’d used to take notes while Morgan explained everything to her earlier. “And you came here without using the Pym particles, right?”

“Yeah. Which is how I got stuck. I managed to get here a few days ago, but the serum I made got destroyed and now I can’t go home.”

“So even if your dad fixes Extremis for your mom and the fire army you have to conquer, you can’t leave right away.”

“No,” Morgan sighed.

“Why did you choose not to use the particles again?” Natasha asked.

Fidgeting would just give herself away so Morgan squashed down the urge. She never said why she didn’t use the particles, just vaguely referenced that they weren’t an option.

But Natasha knew that.

“They’re weren’t anymore to use.” At least that was the truth. Hank had been pretty firm about it, after Steve took his little trip to the past and hadn’t come back right away.

She could _feel_ her father’s frown, even though she wasn’t looking at him, in the way she could feel her mother’s disappointment every time Morgan put on the suit. Her mom was never there, but Morgan could feel it just the same.

“What’s the deal, Little Miss?” He asked, and yup, there was nothing wrong with her instincts. “I can’t help but feel there’s more to the story.”

“Probably because there is,” she admitted. “Look, Dad, I have no idea what to do here. Just because my time won’t change doesn’t mean we don’t have to worry about this one. I was supposed to come back, find a way to get you to fix Extremis without you knowing who I am, and go home. But I messed up, everyone knows I’m from the future, and I can’t get home. This is the worst thing I could have done, and I am gonna get _so_ much crap from Pe—-Mom when I get home.”

“That’s the third time you’ve made that little hiccup, Morgan Maria, do you call your mother Pepper at home? Because let me tell you, Little Miss, that’s not gonna fly, she is your...” he broke off when a thunderclap boomed through the lab. “FRIDAY? Is Point Break making a visit?”

“Mr. Odinson is not arriving. But there seems to be unusual activity on the front lawn, Boss.”

That broke them into movement. Natasha was the first one up the stairs, but Morgan and her dad were right behind her.

“The energy readings are slighting similar to Captain Danvers, but distinct enough to not be a match,” FRIDAY said through the speakers while they dashed from room to room. “It seems to be a portal of some sort. A figure is inside the energy beams.”

“Who the hell is it?” Her dad barked out, skidding a little while they raced through the garage. “Friend or foe?!”

While he ran, he tapped on his chest, and Morgan realized with a start that he’d been wearing a reactor the entire time. Blue light covered him as they neared the doors leading to the lawn.

FRIDAY was quiet a moment, then said, “Scans indicate it’s a friend, Boss. The suit isn’t needed.”

“You sure?” He asked as Morgan screeched to a halt. A friend. A portal, similar enough to some of Carol’s abilities, but not actually Carol. Oh, God. She was going to be sick. Surely it wasn’t....he wouldn’t...he _couldn’t_ have followed her!

FRIDAY’s voice was soft. “I’m quite sure, Boss. You’ll want to hurry. You’ve been waiting for this.”

“What the hell?” he asked, as Morgan shoved him aside and ran out ahead of him.

Natasha was already there, knives out, staring at the figure on the lawn in shock. Floodlights lit up the lawn in front of The Compound, but even if they hadn't, he would have been recognizable enough, even though at the moment he faced away from them, hunched over, a hand on his stomach.

Morgan felt a twinge of sympathy. She knew how awful it could feel, and she didn’t have enhanced super-senses.

“FRIDAY, is this a trick?!” Natasha demanded harshly, as the person whirled around at her voice.

“Negative, Agent Romanoff. He appears to be the real Pe-“

“Oh, thank GOD!” Peter Parker dashed to Morgan, gripping her arms tightly and looking her over, floppy brown hair falling into panicked eyes as he did. “Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay. I got to the lake house and there were about fifty fire dudes there---- _fifty_ Morgan, how does that even happen?!—and I couldn’t find you, and FRIDAY told me what you did, and you can’t _do_ that, Morgan, holy cow Mrs. Stark is gonna kill us both and Happy will hide the bodies....well, MY body, he’ll stop your mom from killing you and just take you out for cheeseburgers, and man, we gotta get home, before Bruce or Rhodey....is that Agent Romanoff???”

His arms tightened on hers and he went white. “Morgan? What time are we in? Please tell me we aren’t...that you didn't...oh. We are? We're back at The Compound? That's...okay. I'm like Marty McFly. Sure. I can do this,” he said faintly, as her dad walked out of the garage slowly.

Peter trembled, letting go of Morgan and taking one small step forward. “Mr...Mr. Stark?”

His voice cracked as he asked it, and he cleared his throat quickly, as of trying to play it cool.

Her dad, however, had no such qualms. Ripping off the glasses he’d grabbed somewhere in the shop, (no doubt using them to confirm FRIDAY’s scans himself) he took several steps toward them and stopped when he was right next to Morgan.

_“KID?!?!”_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot even begin to state how much the outpour of love for this story has meant to me. Every comment and kudos has been so incredible, I'm so grateful to all of you, and I am so humbled that so many of you love this story.
> 
> I hope this next reunion doesn't disappoint. <3

Tony stared at the scene in front of him, eyes bulging out of his head so badly he was surprised they didn’t just pop right out onto the goddamned ground.

It was a trick. It had to be a trick, had to be an illusion, or a spell, or some other kind of mind fuck strong enough to throw off FRIDAY’s sensors and make her state it was real.

It couldn’t be real. He’d dreamed this, over and over, the last three years. Nearly every goddamn night. Various different ways, various different reactions, various different consequences---all leading to one vanished Peter Parker alive, and well, and safe.

And every morning the truth was slammed back into him, a brutal reminder that he had failed, that they had lost.

Peter Parker was dead.

Except _someone_ stood in front of him, fooling FRIDAY’s scanners and grabbing onto Morgan like he was terrified _she_ would be the one to vanish. Someone who looked a hell of a lot like Parker, only older, Jesus, this guy was _years_ older, and that couldn’t be true, the kid hadn’t had the chance to grow up.

“Mr. Stark?” Not-Peter’s eyes were red, and his chin wobbled—— fuck, it might be an older face, (and there might be the beginnings of a _beard_ on that face, what the actual hell), but that was exactly how the kid looked when he was upset. Like when somebody had harmed a puppy, or he had lost at the science fair, or Tony had taken the suit and told him if he was nothing without it, then he didn’t deserve it.

It was how he looked when he...when he...

“Dad?” Morgan clung right back to Peter like she _knew_ him, like he was part of her life, and that was something Tony wished for every damn morning when he woke up and remembered the kid was dead, and that he could never fix it. He wished Peter had gotten the chance to know Morgan.

“Dad, say something, you’re being weird. Pete? Isn’t he being weird?”

“It’s...its a lot to process, Mor,” Peter said—-no, NOT Peter, it couldn’t be Peter, Tony had _failed_ the kid, he had crumpled to dust...

But that face. Those _eyes_. That curly mop of hair and eager expression...

“I never thought,” Not-Peter began, and then his voice cracked, hair falling into his face while his breath hitched. And then he was blinking rapidly while trembling all over, as if he thought it would all be ripped away from him any second.

Or maybe that was just Tony.

“I never really thought this was possible, I can't believe this is really happening. Morgan, can you believe this is happening? That's...this is...” he trailed off, and they might have been red, they might have been a little older, but those were PETER’s eyes--- familiar and full of wonder, brilliantly, shiningly bright. Bright and _alive_.

Something in Tony began to crack.

Not-A-Kid kept talking. “Bruce is going to kill me, May and Happy are going to _flip_. We’re probably creating _so_ many alternate universes and that’s gonna make the magic dudes so annoyed, I’m never going to hear the end of it, and I don’t care."

Letting out a half-laugh, he pressed a hand to his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. "I just _don't care_ , because...because...” his chin wobbled again, but he dropped his hand and he smiled— though his eyes were filled with tears and his voice was softer than Tony had ever heard it—-he smiled like he’d just been told he got to go to Disney or something. Bright and innocent and happy.

“It is really, really good to see you, Mr. Stark.”

What the hell. What the hell, what the hell, what the....“Kid?”

“Yeah, Mr. Stark. It’s me.”

“You. You....” Words were his friend, he was _good_ at talking, at babbling, it was all he ever did. But as he looked at the kid he couldn’t get one goddamned word out.

Not-A-Kid nodded, waiting patiently, as if he knew the whirlwind of emotions ricocheting through Tony. But how could he possibly? Tony glanced from him to Morgan, then back, a painful grip squeezing the heart he wasn’t supposed to have.

If this one was a dream it would surely be the one to shatter him completely.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Tony felt his own chin wobble a little and said, “Peter?”

“Hey, Mr. Stark.”

“Holy shit, kid.” If he was getting burned by this, he was at least going all in first. Reaching out, he yanked the kid into his arms, hugging him tightly. Jesus, shit, it was _Peter_ , it was really him. Breathing in the familiar scent of—Jesus, somehow the kid still somehow smelled like mown grass and lemonade even though he was from _Queens_ how did that even happen--Tony said, “What the hell, Parker, how is this even...you were dead, kid, and now you’re not? What the hell.”

“Yeah, weird right? It’s been a crazy few years,” Peter said, and hugged him back.

Hugged.

Him.

_Back._

The damned onion chopper was back, his eyes were leaking, and Tony didn’t care. Resting his head on the side of Peter’s, Tony held him tighter, the terrible weight he’d carried around in his chest for years finally, finally, lifting a little. It was the kid. It really was the _kid_ , somehow grown. HIS Spider-Kid, with his floppy brown hair and puppy-dog eyes, and terrible, horrible attempt at a beard. He was there. Jesus, fuck, somehow something had finally gone right, the universe had finally listened to his begging for once. Peter Parker had survived.

He was okay.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Tony said, “God, I’ve missed you, kid.”

And Peter Parker wrapped his arms just as tight around Tony, buried his head in Tony’s neck and said in a choked voice, “I’ve missed you too, Mr. Stark.”

 

 

 

 

When they finally broke apart Tony tactfully didn’t mention the wetness in the kid’s red eyes, or the way he sniffed a bit. Tony was too busy wiping his own damn eyes to say anything. But after he got his emotions stable (the kid was _alive_ , holy hell), he said, “You’ve grown quite a bit there, young buck. You eat your Wheaties every day or something?”

Peter cringed. “Ah. Yeah. Guess I’m a little older than the last time you saw me, huh?”

“Just a bit.” Tony rubbed a hand over his face, then dropped his hands and lifted an eyebrow at Morgan. “You left out a few details, there, Little Miss.”

Now it was Morgan who cringed. “I didn’t think I should tell you...who knows what damage we’ve caused....”

Tony waved a hand. “Yeah, I think we’ve effectively screwed the time travel pooch, but we’ve got bigger things to worry about. We’ll figure out that later. Right now I’m concerned about the fire people attack on my lake house in the future that Mr. Parker mentioned. Is Pep there, Peter? Is everyone okay?”

“Oh, holy smokes! The lake house, shit! Things weren’t too bad when I left—Mrs. Stark wasn’t there and Bruce and Rhodey had it handled—but we gotta go back, Morgan. Like, now. Right now.”

Tony resisted the urge to stomp his foot and snarl that neither of his kids were leaving his sight anytime soon. Because the truth was, as much as he wanted them to stay, Peter and Morgan didn’t belong there.

Didn’t belong with him.

“First you need to fill us in, tell us what’s going on,” Natasha said, and Tony flinched so bad he nearly fell over. Holy shit, how had he forgotten Romanoff was there?!

“Then we can help you figure out what to do and get you back to stop them,” she continued.

“But—“

“Morgan won't leave until Extremis is fixed,” Natasha said, right over the kid’s (to Tony he would ALWAYS be a kid, no matter than he looked closer to 25 than 15 now, and thought a stupid beard would look good) protests. “So you can start by letting us know how how you got here."

“Listen, Agent Romanoff. It is _really_ good to see you again, seriously, but we need to—”

“How _did_ you get here, Peter?” Morgan asked. “How did you know where to find me?”

Peter never was good at telling a lie, and Tony nearly laughed at the deer in headlights look on his face. Grown-up or not, for a second Peter just blanked, like a toddler caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

“Uh....” he said, eventually. “Well, you see, I was listening to Led Zeppelin, and...”

“Parker, come on. You can’t lie for shit, just tell us the deal.” Tony interrupted. “And honestly kid, Zeppelin is great but if you need thinking music, go with AC/DC.”

Peter’s shoulders hunched. “Yeah, okay. So. I ran to the workshop to see if we had anything to stop the bad guys, and found out what Morgan had done." His eyes cut toward Morgan, and narrowed a little. "And don't think we aren't going to talk about that later, Morgan."

She gulped. Tony wondered if he was in an alternate dimension. The kid was the responsible adult now?

It made sense--Peter would never have done anything other than watch out for Morgan-- but it was still also strange as fuck.

Morgan shifted at Peter's stare and he relented a little, saying "Anyway. I got the story, and made sure to get enough of the new time travel serum to make sure she can go back with me.”

“How?” Morgan demanded. “How did you know I was stuck, how did you know I was _here_!”

“I had some help.”

Morgan reared back, as if she were flabbergasted and not happy about it. “From WHO?!”

“Someone who has been watching over you for a very long time,” Peter told her quietly.

Morgan and Natasha both frowned, but Tony got it. Mind whirling, he gestured to The Compound, trying to adjust to everything he knew about constant variables and physical theories being blown to pieces.

“Let’s go inside. I think I have an idea as to who Parker’s referring to.”

 

 

 

Tony made them settle on the couch in the main common area, and tried not to notice Peter’s amazement at being back in The Compound. Morgan had held a similar look on her face when they first got there. As if she was walking through a museum—or some sort of sacred shrine to past.

He wondered what had happened to keep them from visiting the Avengers anymore.

Briefly, he debated waking Rhodey, but decided against it. Nat was here, and she could be backup, and that was fine. He didn’t want anyone else there, not yet. He wanted his kids safe and happy and to himself a bit longer.

With his usual flare, Tony settled down on the couch next to Peter and Morgan and tilted his head a little. It was time for some truths to come out.

“My gal FRIDAY? You been keeping secrets from your old man?”

For the first time since the Snap, Natasha looked stunned. Head whipping up, the Black Widow blinked at Tony, trying to process the new information.

He knew how it felt. His mind was still reeling.

“Of course not, Boss. What do I look like?” was his AI’s response.

Tony snorted. “You know, despite your continual inquisitions of that, I’ve never really gotten an answer.”

“Competent, Boss. Extremely competent.”

“That I can visualize completely. But how are you communicating with your code in the future?”

“What?!” Peter yelped.

Morgan, however, blinked but then immediately said, “Oooh. _That_ explains a lot.”

“That’s not possible,” Natasha said.

“It shouldn’t be,” Tony agreed. “And yet, here we are. Fry? Any explanations?”

“It’s best not to linger on it, Boss. Otherwise it would make no sense whatsoever.”

“It makes no sense _now_ , Baby Girl.”

“Trust me, Boss. It gets worse the more you think about it. Why don’t you ask Morgan some questions?”

“Mor?” Tony asked, startled. That hadn’t been where he expected FRIDAY to lead them.

Morgan hesitated. “There was one other instance I know of where someone’s technology in the future was able to correspond with the tech from the past.”

Tony sat straight up. “Another AI?!?”

Another hesitation. “Not...exactly. More like a...a cyborg?”

“Nebula?” Natasha asked. 

Tony blinked. “The hell?” He asked. This was getting so confusing. “How did Blue Meanie manage that?”

“Honestly, Bruce has explained it numerous times and it still makes no sense,” Peter said. “And I _like_ studying alternate realities and astronomical planes. So I have no idea. All I know is that when I ran to the lab looking for Morgan, FRIDAY was suddenly able to tell me exactly where - and WHEN - she went.”

“I still don’t understand,” Natasha said.

“Trust us, it really is better if you don’t think about it,” Morgan said, but Natasha shook her head.

“I’m not talking about FRIDAY. What I don’t understand is how Peter is even here at all. He was Snapped.” Turning, she lifted her eyebrows. “How are you alive, Peter?” 

Morgan and Peter exchanged a look, shoulders hunching a little. “It’s....”

“If you two say _‘it’s a long story’_ I’m gonna lose it,” Tony warned.

“Dad, we cant just...” Morgan began, but FRIDAY interrupted her.

“Boss, the Extremis simulations have completed.”

Tony sighed. “Failed again, huh? Reconfigure the last test a little, Fry, and we can try...”

“No, Boss,” FRIDAY interrupted again. “The simulation was a success. You and Morgan have corrected this strand of Extremis.”

“What?” Tony asked, blinking.

“Peter and Morgan can go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ......that was probably a mean way to end the chapter, huh?? *hides*
> 
> *runs back* I don't plan on this ending for another several chapters, so no worries, Peter and Tony get more time together! I hope I did their reunion justice for you all <3
> 
> And I know I'm probably playing it a little fast and loose with the time travel shenanigans, (particularly with FRIDAY), but IF THE RUSSOS CAN DO IT, SO CAN I! HA!
> 
> Especially since I'm trying to fix the mess they made with my IronFamily. This is why we can't have nice things. Honestly. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

No, no, no, no, no.

“We can’t go home yet,” Morgan blurted. She’d just gotten there, she’d _just_ had the chance to spend time with her dad, surely she didn’t have to leave yet!

Not yet. Come on, universe. Did it have to take him away again so soon? She had to stall. Stall, stall, stall. “We need to make sure the serum works! And I need some more advice on the Fire Guys, they are _really_ not going to be easy to take down, and...”

“Morgan.” Her dad stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. If Morgan didn’t know better, she would think he was trying to be nonchalant, but his hand shook as he said it. “The serum needs to get to your mom. And Peter and the Avengers can help with the bad guys.”

Morgan’s heart twisted. Of course Peter could help. And of course she needed to fix her mother, she’d never forgive herself if something happened to her mom, but that didn’t mean...how could she just leave?!!

Why hadn’t she thought this through more?

“Tony’s right,” Natasha said. “As much as we’d like the two of you to stay, and give us some answers,” that was said directly to Peter, “You need to go back.”

“Dad.” Morgan said, because her mouth couldn’t form any other words at the moment.

Mouth tightening, he flicked his gaze over to her, expression unreadable. Then he looked at Peter for a moment.

“Mr. Stark....” Pete began, but just stopped. Like he wasn’t able to say anything else either. How could they? They’d already said goodbye to her dad once, knew the aching agony that would come with being forced to do so again. If she’d had to do it again, she would, just for the chance to see him alive once more, but...

She just thought she’d get more time.

“Nat, will you take Morgan down to get the serum? Give her some tips and show her some vids on how the suits took down Killian back in the day. The kid and I will be there in a minute.”

Nodding, Natasha led the way, and Morgan bit the inside of her lip to keep the emotions storming through her from escaping as she followed Natasha. She wasn’t jealous her dad was talking to Peter first. She wasn’t. Who knew better than she how much her dad meant to Peter? Morgan doubted even her mom and May knew how much Tony Stark meant to an enhanced teen from Queens.

But Morgan and Happy did. There were times, after the battle, that the three of them would sit in the back of a limo with Burger King bags surrounding them. At first no one really talked about it much---Morgan had been too little--but as she grew older and cried about missing her dad and wishing she knew him better, Happy and Peter would tell her stories.

The best ones always dealt with times her dad joined Peter on one of his patrols, or randomly stormed Mid-Town to drop by and see a science project of Peter’s—sending the whole school into a panic because they had no clue how to handle Tony Stark.

It wasn’t the same as her mom’s stories of them dating, or Rhodey’s stories of them rooming together at MIT. And they were vastly different from the ones Steve, Clint and Bruce told her of her dad as an Avenger.

They were stories of what he’d been like as a dad. Of how maybe, if Thanos hadn’t fucked everything up, he would have been with her.

God, she’d clung to those tales, putting herself in Peter’s role as she dreamt about them later. About her dad just randomly popping into school to see a project because he was proud of her. Or flying with him in a suit—she could just imagine herself blasting off from the lake house and hearing him curse and chase after her while they went to join Peter on an adventure.

So, yeah. Being jealous of Peter was ridiculous. He’d already lost so many people in his young life. Morgan _knew_ that.

It didn’t stop her lip from sulking a little as Natasha grabbed the small bottle of blue serum in the lab.

“You’ll have a large mission to complete when you get back,” Nat said, placing the bottle in a secure carrying case. “Would you like anything to eat before you leave?”

Still biting the inside of her cheek, Morgan shook her head.

“Having a clear mind and a full stomach always helps getting through a tough spot,” Natasha said.

“I’ll be fine.” It was just as ridiculous to be rude and sulk at Natasha, but Morgan hadn’t really been in control of her emotions the entire time she’d been there, there was no point starting now.

“I’m sure you will,” Natasha said easily. “You’re a Stark.”

 _That_ hadn't sounded like a compliment. Eyes narrowing, Morgan said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Tony’s always fine,” Nat replied, in a tone that still sounded light and breezy. “I’m not surprised that you’re the same.”

That was just.... “Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

Natasha only lifted an eyebrow.

“Okay, sure I have to say goodbye to my dead dad before I go back to the future where a mess I caused is waiting for me to be fixed and my ill mother is probably freaking out and worried sick about where I went. So what? That’s nothing. Could be worse. It’s not like I don’t have a team of Avengers who _refuse_ to let me join them to deal with. Or an internship at a company that hates my guts just because of my last name to try and succeed in, because Mom also _refuses_ to let me intern at Stark Industries. Like I’ll really learn more somewhere else," Morgan rolled her eyes. "But that’s fine too, I can deal. I’ve got Peter, and Happy, right? Except Happy’s too wrapped up in May and Peter is wrapped up in MJ —-he’s _married_ now, and can’t come running anytime I need him. Which is cool. He’s got a life, everyone has got a life. So I have to go back to a time where I’m alone. At least here I have you and dad, but it’s fine. Of course I can’t stay, that’s ridiculous. So it’s fine. I’m fine.”

Morgan stopped, mortified, as the last word brought a small smirk of triumph across Natasha’s face. “Oh my god you just let me babble out all the things bothering me. How do you _do_ that?”

“Spy,” Nat reminded her while Morgan buried her face in her hands. “And years of dealing with your dad. He often feels the same way, you know. Alone, when he really isn’t.”

“I don’t think this is really the same situation,” Morgan muttered.

“No? I thought you were a genius with a fondness for robotics and superhero-ing. Who also has a legacy bigger than life to live up to, while dealing with extreme circumstances surrounding your father’s death. That doesn’t sound familiar?”

Morgan gaped at her. “That...when you put it like that...”

“Not even Tony can live up to his legacy,” Natasha said quietly. “But on the days he manages it—-the days he’s the best of the Avengers, the best of his genius, the best of men—it’s the days he’s completely himself. When he throws Tony Stark and what’s expected of him out the window, and acts with his heart.”

The trembling wrecking through her was probably because it was cold in the lab. Not because of Natasha’s words, or the weight behind the weight behind them. “Auntie Nat, I....”

“We beat the Chitauri because of him. Cap led us, but your dad believed in us, made us a team. Your mother became CEO of a billion-dollar company, despite many, many voices arguing otherwise, because Tony believed in her as the best person for the job. Peter wouldn’t have become who he is today if your dad hadn’t believed in him, and taught him he was more than a suit. And I daresay you wouldn’t be the teen you are now if it weren’t for memories of a father who said fuck it to his tasks for the day and took his little girl on a random trip to the zoo because he believed she could be anything she wanted to be, and that week she wanted to be a veterinarian for large animals.”

She’d forgotten that. How could she have forgotten? There was even a small stuffed tiger somewhere at home, shoved into a corner because at some point it had been agony to look at, and remember. 

But it had happened. He had believed in her. Even then, even when she was so small.

Leveling her gaze at Morgan, Natasha said matter-of-factly, “The best of Tony Stark isn’t the suits, or his parent’s legacy, or his wealth and influence. The best of Tony is his heart, and his ability to believe in people. And when he relies on them, and remembers that he’s _not_ alone? That’s when he’s unstoppable.”

Bright green eyes locked into Morgan’s. “So when you say you’re going to be fine, I believe you. You’re a Stark. But I also know that unless you remember you have friends and family to support you, you won’t be the best version of yourself. Lean on them when you need to. Because you’re not alone, Morgan. Your dad might not be there in the future, but you’re not alone. Remember that.”

“I—-“ Throat dry, Morgan tried to make words work. But what did she even say to a statement like that? “I’ll do my best.” She cleared her throat, trying to work around the lump in it. She felt raw, vulnerable in a way she never really let herself be---because as the daughter of the savior of the universe, you had to have a few shields.

But maybe it was time to take a few of them down. “Thanks, Auntie Nat,” she said hoarsely. Oh, no, she was about to cry again. _Lighten the mood, lighten the mood,_ she told herself. Don’t start crying again. Headaches sucked. “You know you’re my favorite aunt, right?” she joked.

“You better not let Carol hear you say that,” Natasha teased. And just like that, the intensity of the moment lifted a little, and Morgan was able to smile brightly at Natasha.

“Carol’s the best, but she’s not you,” Morgan said honestly. Plus, Carol was in space a lot. Not that she didn’t bring the fun each time she came back, but...Nat had been like true family.

Surprise flashed quickly over Natasha’s face before she smothered it. “You flatter me, Morgan. I won’t lie, I like it. Maybe we should keep you around.”

“I mean it,” Morgan said, laughing. Everyone knew what her dad had done, how he saved the world. But so few knew the sacrifice Natasha had made, that she was the reason her dad’s success in beating Thanos was possible. “You’re amazing, Auntie Nat.”

Natasha leaned forward, and wrapped an arm around Morgan. “That goes both ways.”

Relaxing into the embrace, Morgan rested her head on Nat’s shoulders. “Any advice for me about kicking fire people ass?”

“Hit them where they least expect it,” Natasha replied. “Works every time.”

 

 

 

 

“I realize that this probably isn’t the way you saw yourself leaving.”

Morgan jumped, head flinching off Natasha’s shoulder and nearly smacking the Black Widow on the chin. Had she fallen asleep? 

Oh, frick. Somehow, when watching the footage of the battle with Killian, she’d dozed off. Shit, how could she have done that?!

Sitting down the coffee table in front of them, her dad sent her a sad smile and continued, “I mean, grand appearances aside, the big dramatic exit is really the thing people rely on." Hands twisting as he spoke, he focused on them instead of Morgan. She wasn’t sure what to feel about that.

Those hand stilled for just a moment, before he said, “You had quite the bang with your arrival, Little Miss, I’ll grant you that. But as far as exits go...truthfully I think we both didn’t really expect to have to get there.”

His gaze lifted, locked straight on hers. “But there are things that need to done. And before you go, there are some things I need to say. Agent Romanoff, if you’d be so kind?”

With a quick roll, Natasha was on her feet, and Morgan sat on the couch alone. The Black Widow gave her a quick shoulder squeeze, and then left, the lab loud in its silence behind her.

And still, Morgan didn’t know what to say. “Dad,” she tried, hoping to at least get half of what she was feeling out. But how could she when her freaking tongue felt glued to the roof of her mouth?

“God, Morgan. I don’t want you go to,” her dad blurted, dropping his hands and staring helplessly at her. “If it was my decision, you’d stay here. You and Peter both. There’d be two Morgans zipping about, one Teenaged and one Toddlered, and your Mom and I would go bananas but be absolutely delighted by both. You know that, right? I hope you I do. I hope you know that if it were up to me, kiddo, I’d hold on hella tight and never let go.” 

“Dad.” Morgan whispered. One day she might be able to get something else out.

“I wish I could just say fuck it. I really, really do. It's so tempting, Mor. To just say the hell with it, and let you and Peter stay here. Of course, Pete would never see MJ again, and he’s likely to be torn over that. And your mom—-not my version of your mother, but the one you know—-she’d be alone. If you didn’t go back. Pep would be alone.” His shoulders slumped, and the sigh he let out reflected the strain she felt on her own shoulders. 

“Fuck,” he said, sounding so defeated Morgan winced. “Fuck, I can’t do that to your Pep, Morgan. Not if I’m already dead there.”

“I know.” Morgan agreed with a whisper, standing up to cross over to him. “I can’t do that to her, either. I have to go back.”

“Yeah. You do.” Swinging back her way, he out and wrapped her into her arms. “Jesus, this sucks. I love you, Morgan. Don’t forget that, alright?”

“I won’t.” Burying her head in his shoulder did nothing to stop the tears rushing out of her eyes. Well, hell, there was another headache. And once again she was drenching his shirt. Hopefully he didn’t mind. “I love you too, Dad.”

The arms around her tightened. “God, Mor. There are so many things I....” he broke off with a choked noise, and Morgan had the feeling she wasn’t the only one with tears streaming down her face. 

After a few moments, he leaned back a little, swiped at his eyes. “You’re amazing, Little Miss. When you go back, do something for me. Don’t forget who you are.” Narrowing his eyes, he continued, “And I don’t mean being a Stark, or Iron’s Man daughter or any of that shit. Don’t forget _Morgan_. The girl who tinkers in the lab and loves robotics. That girl will save the world. Go home, start your Footsteps Initiative, and always be Morgan. The hell with what everyone else expects of you. I’m so proud of you.”

She nearly fell to her knees. How long, _how long_ had she wished for another chance to hear her dad say he was proud of her?

How was she supposed to go knowing she’d never hear it again?

Like he had the same thoughts storming through him, he wrapped her in a hug again. They were nearly the same height, she was only a little shorter, but Morgan let herself lean on him, one last time.

“A wise man once told me not to waste my life,” her dad whispered. “And I didn’t, because of him. Not after that. And it sounds like you’re already way ahead of me, Little Miss, which does not surprise me at all, but in case you ever need it: Don’t waste your life, Mor. Don’t try to be me. Don’t try to live up to the insanely high standards. Blaze through them and make your own path. You’re already a legacy of your own. Remember that.”

“I—-Dad.” Morgan leaned back and swiped at her own eyes. Her dad was _proud_ of her, and he was _alive _and why? Why did she have to go, why did he have to be dead? Dammit, why couldn't she stop crying?__

__But she couldn't let her last moments be full of regret. So, taking a deep breath and steeling her shoulders in a way she'd seen her mother do a thousand times, Morgan reined in the tears, made herself send him a small smile, and pretended her heart wasn't breaking. “Thanks, Dad. I’m so glad I got to see you. Even if I might have seriously created an alternate universe.”_ _

__The smile she got back was genuine, but also a little strained at the edges. So she wasn't the only Stark putting on a mask. A part of her ached at that realization as her dad said, “Back atcha, Little MIss. Now. We gotta go about getting you back. And fix a few things. You’ve got a life to get back to. Oceans to save, internships to rock, Peter to annoy, etc. etc.”_ _

__Morgan laughed, grateful it was real, and not fake. “Yeah, I’m taking Oscorp by storm,” she joked. “Soon it will be my company, and I’ll rule both it and SI.”_ _

__She went to meet his eyes, share the laugh with him, but the expression on his face was nothing close to humorous. Instead, he’d quickly turned deathly pale, his large brown eyes widening to the point of strangeness._ _

__“Uh, Dad? You okay?”_ _

__“Morgan. Morgan, did you say Oscorp?”_ _

__“I know,” Morgan made herself laugh again. This time, it _was_ fake. It probably had to be odd to him that she was interning there, but wasn’t his reaction a little extreme? “I thought it was ridiculous, too, but mom was firm. I couldn’t intern at SI. Something about learning how other people do business but not stealing ideas, we had to sign like, a million NDA’s....Dad?”_ _

__“Oscorp? She let you go to OSCORP?!”_ _

__“Yeah. Dad, what is _wrong_? Oscorp's not SI, but it's not...oh.” Shaking her head, Morgan reached out to try and steady him. “Oh, you don’t know. It used to be run by Norman Osborn, right? He was supposed to be kinda a terrible person, wasn’t he? Into human experimentation and all that? No, it’s fine now, Dad. Oscorp is run by his son, Harry. Some of his employees could use some work, but Harry’s actually a really nice guy.”_ _

__“Are you sure?” Her dad rasped. The panic clawing into his eyes made her own nerves race. What was he so afraid of? “Morgan, are you _sure_?”_ _

__“Yeah, no one’s seen Norman Osborn in years, Dad. What’s going on?”_ _

__But he didn’t listen, instead began to pace around the room. “Is he dead?”_ _

__“No, I don’t think so-“_ _

__His swear cut her off. Morgan blinked, the nerves skittering into all out fear now. “Dad? What is it?”_ _

__“You said the scientists you worked with stole Extremis, used it for their own purposes?”_ _

__She blinked, trying to keep up with his train of thought. “Yeah. But we can stop them, you said the suits and the Avengers can help....”_ _

__“Did they work for Oscorp?”_ _

__“Who, the scientists? What does that have to do...”_ _

__“Mor. Did they work for Oscorp?”_ _

__“Yes,” she admitted, face heating. “I intern in their research department, and asked a few of them to help. I didn’t know they’d use it this way. I know I should have gone to the scientists at SI, but I honestly didn’t think they’d steal Extremis like that.”_ _

__But he was back to shaking his head. “I don’t think it was ever about Extremis.” A hand came up to run through his hair, making it stick up at the back. “This is about Norman. He’s out for revenge.”_ _

__“What? On who?”_ _

__“Fuck. Fuck, if I’m right, this is bad, Mor. Really, really bad.”_ _

__“Dad, _what_ —-“_ _

__“It was never about Extremis. It’s about Peter. This is a trap for Peter.”_ _

__Morgan reeled back. “Pete?! But—-WHY?”_ _

__“It’s a long story. One even Peter doesn’t fully know. But if you and he go back, he’ll be walking right into a trap.”_ _

__Absolutely not. She wasn’t losing someone else, she wasn’t losing PETER. “How do you know that? Why do you...maybe it will all be fine!”_ _

__“There was no one there when you left, right?” Continuing to pace, her dad tapped his chin, thinking it out. “Peter said they were already at the house when he got there, but why would they surround an empty house? I'm betting they were watching until they got word he was on his way. And then Peter gets there, and boom. Fifty fire people against one Spider-Man? Even knowing the Avengers would show up, that Bruce and Rhodey were probably right behind him, they risked it. But they didn’t bother to play their hand until Pete got there. He disappeared, followed you here, but...”_ _

__He cringed. “As soon as you get back, you’ll be surrounded.”_ _

__It was all suddenly going so wrong. “But we knew that already, right? So it’ll be okay —-we’ll have the suits! And Uncle Rhodey and the other Avengers....”_ _

__“If Norman is behind this, that’s not going to be enough,” her dad said grimly. Then he tapped on his chest, making a soft blue light glow under his shirt. “You and Peter need to go back, right now.”_ _

__He took a deep breath, ignoring Morgan’s startled gasp. “And I’m going with you.”_ _


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been HOW long since I've lasted posted?!?! *hangs head in shame* Sorry, lovely readers. But here are some words! And feels! Lots of feels ahead! 
> 
> Also, some small, slight spoilers for Spider-Man:Far From Home. It's subtle, but I also wouldn't recommend reading this until you've seen the end credits of that movie!

“Dad, you can’t be serious...”

“Not the time to start arguing with your old man, Morguna,” Tony muttered, mind already whirling. Clearly he would need the latest model of the suit he’d been working on, and maybe the one he’d started for Pepper. He’d have to check with the kid to see what version of the Spidey suit Peter was using—-hopefully it wasn’t the one the he had vanished in. That had to be all sorts of out of date, what with it being so far ahead in the future in Morgan and Peter’s time.

Oh, yeah, _that_ was a thing to worry about. He was going to the future. Actually, no, he didn’t need to worry about that, he needed to focus on kicking Norman Osborn’s ass.

Although....huh. It was too late to get a DeLorean. A shame, that. Tony would look badass with a DeLorean...

“Dad.”

“One sec, Little Miss.” Did he take anything else? This was Norman Osborn they were talking about, it wasn’t the time to play it simple and hope for the best. Deciding he needed everything, he grabbed a small bag and started throwing tasers and gauntlets in it. Tony had warned Norman once to stay the hell away from Peter, and clearly the bastard hadn’t remembered his promise.

Tony would be rectifying that.

“Dad. Dad, you can’t go to the future!”

“Yeah, yeah, terrible repercussions and alternate dimensions are sure to abound, but I think that ship has sailed, honey. We’ll figure it out. First I need to make sure you and Peter can get back without being ambushed.”

A female voice other than Morgan’s asked, “And how are you planning on doing that?”

“Fuck!” Flinching, Tony paused in his frantic packing and jabbed a finger at Natasha, who had come out of fucking nowhere and was leaning lazily against the doorframe. “You have _got_ to stop doing that, make noise every so often when you enter a room or something, for Christ’s sake.”

Eleven years and she still scared the shit out of him. Talk about career achievements.

Ignoring his rant, Natasha said, “Tony. What are you planning?”

“He thinks he’s coming back with me and Peter,” Morgan blurted as Peter himself walked around the corner. At Morgan’s words, he let out a startled protest, tripped over his own two feet, and nearly toppled into Natasha. The superspy didn’t even blink, just held out a hand to help steady him.

“What! Mr. Stark, no. No, no, no, no, no you cannot do that.”

Tony ignored the little stab in his heart at Pete’s words. Sure, it was likely to open a wormhole or some shit like that, but couldn’t his kids be a _little_ excited about him going back with them?

Peter continued arguing, babbling like he could really talk Tony out of it. 

Guess he had to be concerned about his parental failures later. With a firm shake of his head, Tony said, “No can do, Parker. You and Mor are in over your heads, and I’m going to help.”

“Dad, it’s not that we don’t appreciate the help, or that we don’t want you to come with us,” Morgan began, and when Tony turned her way, she sent him a small smile. The little stabby thorn in his heart vanished. “I want you to come back more than anything. But I also can’t leave the Morgan here to grow up without you.”

“I’m not staying,” Tony clarified. “I can’t do that to Toddler Morgan, or Pep, but I can’t send you two off on your own, there’s no way—“

“Don’t you trust us?”

The quietly worded question stopped Tony in his tracks. Whipping around, he faced Peter to see the kid —well. Young man. He was a young man now. Tony had to remember that, even though he’d always be Tony’s kid.

Who was currently staring at Tony with misery all over his face.

And just, no. That wouldn’t do.

“Mor? Tasha? Can you give me and Peter a second? Maybe go check on Rhodey, let him know I’m about to do something crazy again, he’ll have a hard time believing it, I’m sure...”

“Sure, Tony.” Pushing off the wall, Nat waited for Morgan and then the two of them left the lab.

Peter didn’t bother waiting any further. “Look, Mr. Stark, I know I messed up a lot while you were alive—-and right after you died too, man I did something really dumb then—- but that doesn’t mean I’d let anything harm Morgan or that we can’t take care of this Osborn without you. I’ve gotten better, sir, please believe me when I say Morgan will be fine, and—-“

“You’ve never needed to prove anything to me, Pete.”

Tony’s words had Peter faltering, stopping mid-sentence like a cartoon character suddenly rendered speechless.

Then he blinked. “What?”

“I’ve never doubted you, Peter. Had to test you a little, make sure you didn’t do stupid ass shit like I was prone to do. That’s parenting. But there’s never been a day since I saw that video of you lifting a bus and saving people— in that horrible outfit you used to wear on YouTube—-that I wasn’t 100% certain you were the real deal. You’re the best of all of us,” Tony said, as Peter let out a little squeak, and continued to stare at Tony with wide eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that more often, before the Snap. I’m sorry you thought I doubted you.”

“You....I....you never doubted me?”

“Peter, you took on the responsibility of having great powers better than any enhanced human I know. And I work with Cap. You didn’t even hesitate, you just started helping people. If I had to choose between you and anybody else to have my back, I’d choose you every time. The only reason I never did before was because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

Parker still gaped at him, shocked. It was far too similar to another time he’d been confused—-and a flash of an orange sky, of a scared voice, and dust, and ash coating his hands rippled through Tony’s mind. Fuck, shit. Now was not the time for that. Taking a breath, Tony pressed his lips together for a moment to regain his composure. Then he said, “But that bad shit came anyway.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Mr. Stark.”

Of course the kid would say that. But...“You died in my arms, Pete.”

“Because of Thanos, because of Strange’s plan, because of the stupid stones, not because of anything you did!”

Tony shook his head. Peter could argue all be wanted, Tony knew better. “I should have been better, should have been faster...”

“It wasn’t your fault!” Peter shouted, eyes red. And suddenly the years slipped away and a terrified teen was once again staring at him. Reaching out, Tony laid a hand on the top of Peter’s shoulder...and the kid was trembling, Christ, he was shuddering so hard it was a surprise he didn’t rattle apart with the force of his tremors.

“Peter...”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Peter repeated, softer this time, the misery in his words slicing into Tony’s heart. “Because if that was your fault, then your death is mine, and I can’t...I can’t...”

“Hey. _Hey_ ,” Tony said softly, pulling Peter forward and wrapping him in a hug. “I don’t care what happens in your time, Peter, my decisions and what happened with that are _not_ your fault. There’s no way. Uh uh.”

“If it weren’t for...you never would have...”

“Nope.” Leaning back, Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Not having it Parker. If something happens to me, it’s on my own head. Not yours. Nothing, _nothing_ could happen to convince me otherwise. We clear?”

Nodding, Peter wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “But that goes both ways, Mr. Stark. Me being dusted wasn’t your fault.”

“Listen, Parker _I_ am the adult here—-well, the elder adult, anyway...oh, well, hell, now I can’t move past it. I’m an ELDER, what the actual—-“

“Mr. Stark.” Peter’s head lifted, and the scared teen was gone. Instead Tony found himself staring at a determined, loyal, superhero. The one Tony always knew he’d turn into.

Shit, Tony was proud of him.

“It goes both ways,” Peter said again.

Pressing his lips together, Tony considered him a moment. Arguing further would get him nowhere, and Peter needed to know Tony trusted him, believed in him, and always had.

“Alright, Pete. It goes both ways.”

“Good,” Peter nodded. “Now. Why do you think Morgan and I need help with the fire guys?”

“Well, mostly because Norman Osborn wants to lock you in a lab and torture you endlessly as a science experiment.”

The determined look blazing out of Parker’s eyes extinguished in a flash. Tony couldn’t blame him, the idea of it made him unsteady also.

“Oh,” Peter said with a small gulp, and paled.

“Yeah that’s about what I thought.”

“WHY?” Peter sputtered. “I’ve never done anything to him. And I don’t think he’s been seen in a long time, Mr. Stark. Are you sure?”

“Trust me, Pete. I’m sure.” Running a hand through his hair, Tony eyed Peter, debating how much to tell him. What he’d said earlier was true; he trusted Peter more than anyone other than Pepper and Rhodey. Before he hadn’t mentioned Osborn to Peter because of his age.

But that wasn’t a reason now, was it?

Moseying over to the small bar off to the side, Tony asked, “How old are you now, Pete?”

“Um. Twenty-six, sir.”

Tony’s hand faltered a little as it reached for the brand of his favorite scotch. Hell, that was older than he’d thought. Twenty-six? Part of that knowledge made Tony want to clutch at his chest—how the hell was his kid twenty-six?!?—-but another part of him screamed with joy, with the relief that had overtaken him when he’d first seen Peter on the lawn.

His kid got a chance to grow up. Whatever happened in his and Morgan’s time, whatever he’d done, it had to be worth it.

Quickly pouring his favorite scotch into two glasses, he shifted, and held one out to Peter.

“Well, then, Spider-Man. A toast to growing old. Bottom’s up.” Smiling, he held his glass out in a toast, then frowned when Peter didn’t move. “Pete? You gotta actually take a drink to make a toast there, buddy.”

Peter stared at the glass, then back up at Tony. “I—-“

“Oh.” Tony winced. “Scotch not your thing, huh? Sorry. You’re probably more of a rum or beer kinda guy. Or, actually, I could see you into wine coolers, want me to go get...”

“No,” Peter laughed. It wasn’t until he ran a hand through his own mop of brown hair that Tony realized his laugh and voice had been wobbly. “No, that’s not it, Mr. Stark. I like this just fine.”

Tony’s head tilted. “Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s not a problem,” Peter promised quickly. “It’s just....every year on my birthday. Mr. Rhodey and Happy appeared at my door. I always plan on a night in with May and MJ, but they appear out of nowhere, and insist they take me out. Mr. Rhodes said....he said it was what you would have done.”

Oh. Ouch. Direct hit to the heart. Because he wasn't there in the future to take Pete out for his birthday, was he? Trying to keep himself from feeling too defeated over that particular fact, he commented lightly, “My honey-bear does know me well."

Peter grinned. “And I have a great time with them, Mr. Stark, really I do. But it’s just...it’s not the same. The whole time I keep thinking I would rather have you there.” The smile turned sad. “I never thought I’d get a chance to actually go out and get a drink with you.”

“Well, here’s to time travel,” Tony joked, but his voice was heavy. He would have rather have been there with the kid, too. “And Happy late Birthday, Pete.”

Peter finally lifted his glass, and they toasted. The drink felt more bitter than it normally did, the soothing effect it usually caused altered due to the bittersweet timeline leading up to it.

“So. Why is Norman Osborn after me?” Peter asked quietly.

It was too bad he couldn’t pour them both another drink for this conversation, but they should probably have clear heads. Sighing, Tony said, “We never really talked much about how you became the Spiderling.”

Peter blinked, then shrugged. “Got bit by a spider. Spider’s dead.”

“Yeah,” Tony mused. “But you know there was more to it than that.”

Not replying, Peter stared down at his drink.

“Peter,” Tony prompted.

“I didn’t want to look to into it, you know? It was like....it was like asking for trouble.”

“So you got a bright red and blue suit and started taking on bad guys as a way to stay low?” Tony snorted, but couldn’t stop the amusement from leaking out. “Good call, Pete.”

Parker flushed. “I never said it made sense.”

“Nah, I get it, in a weird, superstitious kind of way. If you looked into it too much, your abilities might go away, right?”

“Yeah.” Blinking, Peter frowned at Tony, head tilted. “How’d you know?”

“I used to have an arc reactor in my chest cavity keeping shrapnel out of my heart. Believe me, I know what it’s like to try not to focus on something too much.” In fact, if anything, he’d done the opposite. Instead of worrying constantly that the reactor would fail and being certain that somehow his worrying would make it actually happen, he’d flaunted the reactor. Wore shirts it was visible through, showed the world his heart in defiance of the fact that it was so incredibly fragile.

And thank God that wasn’t a worry anymore.

“Anyway,” Tony said, resisting the urge to rub his chest where the reactor once sat. “I didn’t have the same hesitancy when it came to a particular, radioactive, spider.”

Pete sighed, and Tony frowned. Was that exasperation on Parker’s face? Oh come on, he’d thought the people he exasperated were Pepper and Rhodey, not Peter.

“You looked into it?” Peter asked.

“Well, of course, what, you think that happens every day? I had to make sure something wasn’t going to come chasing after you because of it. And I had to figure it out before Ross, who had also taken to trying to sniff out your identity and how you got your powers after the Accords fiasco.”

“I had no idea,” Peter admitted. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“Eh,” Tony waved his hand. “Part of the mentor gig. Anyway. What I discovered was that your little spider friend came from Oscorp. Norman had been messing with some DNA altering he shouldn’t have.” Hands getting a little sweaty, Tony picked his drink back up to focus on for this next part.

He didn’t like to think of it.

“Norman had also seen the YouTube videos, back in the day. By the time I figured out where your spider came from, he’d figured out a way to trap you, and had a whole lab created to keep you and study you.”

Stomach churning, Tony forced himself to take a drink and not recall the plans he’d found.

Every single one of them had been some kind of house of horror. Built for Peter. 

Peter was shaking his head. “I don’t remember any trap, Mr. Stark.”

“No,” Tony said quietly. “You wouldn’t.”

“I don’t understand.”

Shoving the glass back on the table, Tony turned to stare at the wall. He hated this memory, had tried his best to suppress it...

“Mr. Stark?”

“Remember that lady that always gave you churros?”

“Mrs. Flores? Yeah, she was great. I hated that she had to move her cart to another part of the city, I never got free churros again after that.”

“She didn’t want to move.” Voice faltering, Tony took a deep breath. Dammit, fuck, he’d really tried hard to keep Peter from ever having to worry about this. But he wasn’t helping him any keeping him in the dark. Gathering the wits to continue, Tony said, “Norman studied you, found out your habits as Spider-Man. Discovered how fond of you Mrs. Flores was.”

The color Pete had managed to regain abruptly fled again. “What?”

“He kidnapped her, kid. Tried to use her as a hostage, lure you into a warehouse, and exchange yourself for her.”

Head shaking again, Peter said, “I never...”

“No, you never went,” Tony agreed. “Although we all know you would have. Karen intervened. Sent the message to me, instead of letting you see it. So I sent Osborn his own little trap.”

“How?”

“Know anyone I could trust enough to send out in your suit? She’s currently keeping Morgan entertained upstairs.”

“You had Agent Romanoff pretend to be me?!?”

Tony shrugged. “She owed me one after the Accords and it wasn’t like Vision or Rhodey or Happy could do it. They're too tall or bulky. We manipulated a Spidey suit so no one knew she was a woman, and sent her in.”

“And what happened?”

“Osborn attacked her. Hard. If she wasn’t Natasha Romanoff, she probably would’ve been up shit’s creek. Even as it was, she had a rough go of it. Norman had some kind of fancy suit and glider of his own, called himself Green Goblin. By the time Rhodey, Vision and I got there, he’d shot her with these special gloves — that had electricity conductors in them, with some kind of voltage high enough to knock her out. She didn’t get back up, Pete. He’d stopped her heart.”

“WHAT?”

“Rhodey started CPR, got her breathing again almost immediately,” Tony said quickly. “Osborn was furious. He’d thought he’d killed Spider-Man. He wanted to study your corpse...”

Trembling, Tony clenched his fists, shoving the vows Norman had made to find out who Spider-Man was, the threats to destroy him, away. In order to understand why Tony would be going back to the future with him, Peter needed to hear the rest.

“Nat was pissed as hell at the Goblin, but she turned out all right. We got her to the hospital, and as you can see, she’s just dandy. Once she got released, we let it go. Didn’t see the point in upsetting you.”

“You should have told me!” Peter said, his face turning red again. “Mr. Stark, you shouldn’t have kept that from me, I had every right to know...”

“Know what? That at 16, you had a madman who wanted to murder you and study your mutilated corpse? I don’t think so, Pete. I promised I would tell you when you were older, and here we are.”

“But—he could have come back, caused trouble again....he could’ve gone after May!”

“At the time, I knew he wouldn’t. Trust me, Pete. I put every ounce of security and protection on you and May I could. And hauled his ass to a maximum security prison. That’s why he hadn’t been seen in years. He got out once, but I took care of it.”

“You did?”

Tony’s voice hardened. “Norman Osborn learned not to fuck with my Spider-Kid.” Then he winced. “Although apparently my death had him seeing an opportunity. So, I'm going with you. No fucking way that man is hurting my kids. Though it's odd how he knew where to be, and when. It’s almost like he knew your identity or something, heading to the lake house the same time you did.”

This time, Peter winced. “Ah. Yeah. About that...”

“Are you boys done having deep and meaningful conversations, or should I come back later?” Wandering in, Natasha snatched Peter’s scotch and knocked it back herself.

“Aw, come on! I was gonna finish that,” Peter protested.

“No, you weren’t,” Natasha said, smiling. Ignoring his indignant, “Hey!” (then grumbling admittance that he probably wasn’t), Nat turned to Tony and said, ”You finally fill him in?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. You should have done it ages ago.”

“That’s what I said!”

“Okay, the last thing I need is the Spiders bonding, so stop it, or I’m splitting you two up,” Tony demanded. “Where’s Mor?”

“Up with Rhodey. He’s lecturing her about time travel safety but she’s too busy muttering to herself to hear him.”

“Sounds about right,” Tony said, beaming with pride. “Alright. Let’s head down and find a way to get me to the future.”

“Us,” Natasha said quietly when he tried to brush by.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Get _us_ to the future, Stark. I get why you gotta watch after the kids, but you really think I’m letting you go alone?”

“Well, I guess two badass superhero’s from the past is better than one...”

“No, no, no, this can’t be happening,” Peter pressed his hands to his head, grabbed at his hair. “You can’t do that! You really, really can’t do that. Neither of you are going to the future.”

“Why not?” Natasha asked innocently. Though Tony had known her long enough to know the twitch of her lips meant she was fighting back a laugh.

“Because...there are rules! And...rules!”

Tony exchanged an amused glance with Natasha. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Mr. Stark!”

“Come on, Pete!” Tony strolled down the hall, Natasha right next to him. “We’ve got some ass to kick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda tying in Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man origin story with Tom Holland's. Sorry if that bothers you! It's what I grew up with so I always kinda have Willem Dafoe lingering in the back of my mind when thinking of the Green Goblin, lol.


	10. Chapter 10

“You’re not even listening to me right now, are you? Look at you, of course you aren’t.” Snapping his fingers, Rhodey once again tried to get her attention. When Morgan continued to glare at the holo-image in front of her, he sighed. “Weren’t you just on the _'Tony shouldn’t travel to the future'_ train? What happened with that?”

“Stubborn,” Morgan mumbled. No, her dad probably _shouldn't_ go the future, but what did she know at this point? Maybe it would work out okay. And like her dad was gonna just let it go. He was probably convincing Peter his plan was solid at this very moment. She might as well work out the logistics of it while he did.

Rhodey nodded. “Yeah, I know he’s stubborn. And that apple didn’t fall far from the tree, did it, Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong?”

He snorted, but there was no mistaking the fond laughter. Morgan wondered what he would say if she told him how often he called her that in the future. Would he laugh again? Or just send her that exasperated, _Oh Morgan_ , look?

The same one she’d seen him give her dad a few times since arriving.

Throwing his hands up, Rhodey said, “Man, I knew Tony’s daughter would turn out just like him, and here I am, trying to convince you that allowing your father to travel to the future is a terrible idea. And you’re just sitting there, ignoring me completely. What are you working on? The Pym tech? Your own tech? Morgan? Hey. You know, you do not need to do this alone, no need for the Stark solo-genius act, why don’t you...”

“Double,” Morgan muttered, swirling around the image FRIDAY had produced for her. If she doubled the strength of the vials Peter had brought, it could get her a serum strong enough to allow her dad to get through the Quantum Realm. Providing, of course, her math was right, and it had to be. It was never really _wrong_ , just that one time she’d been distracted while trying to....

Rhodey waved a hand in front of her face. “Double? Double what? Morgan, come on. I can’t help if you don’t fill me in.”

But if her math was wrong, her dad could get stuck in the Quantum Realm. Or he could get turned into a baby.

“Weird,” she mumbled to herself. No, she’d check her math, and make sure that didn’t happen.

“Yeah, I know it’s weird,” Rhodey agreed. “You know what else is weird? A teenager certain she can travel through time without repercussions.”

Finally tearing her eyes away from the holo-image of the vials, Morgan frowned and said, “I’ve already traveled through time.”

Rhodey’s eyebrows lifted to his hairline. “And you think that’s not gonna have any consequences?”

“Time’s not linear, Uncle Rhodey, it’s....”

“Wibbly-wobbly, yeah, I watched all the Doctor Who episodes with your dad. But just because it doesn’t change where you came from, Morgan, doesn’t mean it’s not going to change things here.”

Guilt pressed in on her chest like a stone. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“I know, Mor. But it did. And now Tony knows that time travels a thing and Peter’s alive. You think he’s just gonna let that go after you leave?”

“He has to.”

“It’s Tony, Morgan. He’s gonna move heaven and hell trying to get that kid back once this is all over. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Morgan said, “I’ll convince him not to. I’ll figure it out, Uncle Rhodey. He can’t look for Peter yet, he’ll fail.”

“I see.” Leaning back, Rhodey studied her with narrowed eyes. “So that’s why we haven’t gotten them all back yet? We gotta wait for something?”

_Damn_ it. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? “I didn’t say that.”

“Uh huh.”

“I didn’t. And you know what? It would be best if you forget this whole thing ever happened.”

“Oh, sure. That’s gonna happen.”

“Little Miss has got a point, platypus,” Her dad said, walking in. He took a minute to study Morgan’s hologram, then said, “Good idea, Mor, but we’re gonna need to triplicate things. We’ve got one more joining us.”

Rhodey pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t start, Tones.”

“Start? I never start, sugar plum. Finish quite often though,” her dad said with a wink at Natasha while she walked into the common living room, Peter hot on her heels. Auntie Nat merely rolled her eyes.

“Tony. I’m being serious.” Rhodey said through clenched teeth.

“So am I. Nat’s coming with us.”

Folding his arms, Rhodey said, “And I’m just gonna stay here and pretend this never happened?”

“I need someone I trust to watch Pep and Toddler Morguna. That’s you, platypus. No one I trust more.”

“Dammit, Tony. That’s a low blow.”

“I know, honey-bear, but I know you’ll watch after them when I’m not there.” His eyes slid to Morgan. “That’s one of the few things I’ve always been certain of.”

Morgan’s heart twisted—-her dad had always trusted Rhodey with his whole world. And Rhodey had never failed him. There wasn’t a time in her life she didn’t remember her uncle being there, for birthdays, or science fairs, or concerts, or Taco Tuesday, and more.

Her first flight in a suit had been made possible because of Rhodey. Because he knew it was what her dad would have done.

Throwing his arms in the air, Rhodey said, “You know I’ll take care of them, Tones. But dammit. You better come back.”

“You’ll never even know I was gone,” her dad promised.

“Well, it will seem like a—“

“No, no, platypus. You won’t remember I’m gone, because you won’t know I am. I’ve got this handy dandy memory suppressant that...”

“WHAT?!”

“Who wants a juice pop?” Morgan asked, leaping off her stool and grabbing Peter’s hand. There was no way they needed to be there for this, Rhodey would never agree easily....

“If you think for one _second_ I am going to let you mess with my head, and erase my memories you are out of your damn mind, Tony!” Rhodey bellowed as Morgan and Peter high-tailed it to the door.

Natasha propped her boots on the coffee table while they did, and watched the men arguing in front of her with amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Aw, come on, you know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t...”

“Why do you even have a memory suppressant in the first place, Tony, we’ve _talked_ about this Lone Ranger act!”

“I forgot how scary Rhodey is when he’s mad,” Peter admitted while they hurried back to the lab.

Morgan thought of Rhodey’s reaction the first time he caught her experimenting with time travel. “I haven’t,” she laughed. “But at least he’s arguing with Dad now.”

“Good luck, Mr. Stark,” Peter muttered while FRIDAY opened the doors to the lab for them. “But I’m glad we have a minute alone. We need to find a way to keep this from imploding, Morgan. If your dad and Nat go back...”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve thought it through!” She said, when he opened his mouth to argue. “We’ll give them inconspicuous suits—-the Avengers know dad made a ton and has the hall of armor for me and mom in case we even need protection from another threat like Thanos. I’ll just say I activated some to protect the lake house and let everyone assume FRIDAY is controlling them. But it’ll really be Dad and Nat.”

“That...could work,” Peter admitted. “As long as they don’t get too close to the others. Rhodey and Bruce would realize it’s Mr. Stark instantly. He’s too unique, and they know him too well. And Steve...”

“We can tell Cap the truth.”

“What?”

“You think the guy who went back to be with the love of his life is gonna judge us for going to see my dad? Plus, it might do him some good to see Auntie Nat again. He never got to say goodbye to her. It eats at him,” she said, thinking of all the times Steve had mentioned Natasha with a terrible grief in his eyes.

“Maybe,” Peter said. Then he leaned on the counter, and narrowed his eyes at her. “Speaking of traveling to see your dad...”

Morgan winced. Oh boy. Guess she had to expect his angry lecture sometime, didn’t she? “Peter, I’m sorry...”

“Are you? You just left! You...HOW could you...you didn’t even tell me, Morgan!”

“I thought you’d get mad.”

“Of course I’m mad! You just LEFT, and didn’t tell us, do you have any idea what could have happened, what could have gone wrong?!”

“Of course I did!”

Guilt wormed it’s way into her heart as Peter’s hands flew to tug at his hair. “That is just...That is....Why didn’t you _say_ anything!? Morgan, you and May and MJ were all that kept me together after Thanos, if something happened to you, I couldn’t handle it. Do you get that?”

“Of course I do,” Morgan snapped. “How do you think I feel every time you suit up and go off without me? How do you think I felt after the whole Beck thing? But I never asked you not to do it, Peter!”

“I wouldn’t have told you not to go! God, Mor, of course you’d want to see your dad, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me or try to take me too!”

“I couldn’t!” The words fled out of her before she could control them, before she could think it through. At Peter’s stricken face, she hurried to add, “Do you really think I didn’t _want_ to? But this is my mess, Pete, and I can’t come running to you every time I mess up. I have to learn to do things on my own.”

Natasha’s words from earlier ran through her mind. “Or at least, I thought I did. But I also didn’t want to bring you, make you feel all the horrible guilt and grief again. I do remember right after Thanos, Peter,” she said quietly. She remembered how she and Peter had clung to each other, how the sadness and misery she felt every day after she realized her dad wasn’t coming back was reflected in Peter’s eyes.

How when Peter and May spent weekends at the lake house, Peter would wake up screaming, sobbing that he was sorry....

“I didn’t know how you would react to seeing Dad, and I didn’t want to put you through that. And I wanted...I wanted to have a little time with him, just to myself.”

Selfish, so very, very selfish. Wasn’t that what all the kids at school accused her of? When she wouldn’t share her dad’s items at show and tell, or reveal the location to Spider-Man’s whereabouts to her friends crushing on him in middle school? Selfish, selfish Morgan Stark. She’d never really given much thought to what the others had said before, but how could she deny it now?

How could she refute it after what she’d done?

While Peter gaped at her, she ducked her head, wishing she were a better person. Everyone in her entire world would give anything to see her dad again, especially her mom and Peter. But she’d wanted to keep him to herself. Admitting it out loud made her ears burn, made her face red with shame, but Peter deserved to know the truth.

“I don’t remember him,” she admitted quietly. “There are some memories—the juice pops, and reading on the couch. Love You 3000, and the times I would watch him work in the shop with DUM-E. But,” her lips trembled, and Morgan ran a hand through her hair. “I was starting to forget, Pete. Everyone else has all these memories—-so _many_ , Peter, you all have so many fun and touching stories, and I...I don’t. Not ones that are just _mine_ , that haven’t also been reaffirmed by others telling me stories, not ones that I really remember perfectly in my own. So I wanted to make my own. To just...see my dad, and have that memory, that time with him, all to myself.”

“Morgan.” Peter reached over, grabbed her hand.

“Of course, _he_ wasn’t supposed to know it was _me_ , and then I got stuck and it all blew up in my face, but...that was why I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry, Peter. I shouldn’t have been so selfish.”

“No, no, no.” Shaking his head, Peter tightened his grip on her hand, squeezing it tight. “I get it, Morgan. I understand. It’s alright.”

“It’s not. I left, _knowing_ it would hurt you, and did it anyway, what kind of terrible person—-“

“A human one,” Peter interrupted. “Just don’t ever do it again, okay? My Spidey senses can’t handle the stress of you disappearing and if I keel over in shock you’ll have Aunt May to deal with.”

Snorting out a laugh, Morgan said, “Okay. No more time traveling without you. Got it. But for the record? Aunt May loves me. It’s MJ I’d have to deal with.”

“Oh, well, in that case, you’re fine. MJ would just find a way to go back in time and fix the problem herself,” Peter smiled.

Snorting out a laugh—because it was completely true—Morgan smiled back, and squeezed his hand. “I’m really glad you always have my back, Pete.”

“Same goes, Baby Stark,” he said. “Now, how are we getting Agent Romanoff _and_ Mr. Stark to the future without losing them in the Quantum Realm? Is the serum you made advanced enough to carry two extra people?”

“I’ve got some thoughts on that,” she said, ordering FRIDAY to pull up the images she’d worked on earlier. Quietly, she began to fill Peter in, listening when he had a suggestion or alteration. Soon the room was covered in holograms, while the two of them worked on perfecting time travel.

When it grew chilly again, she found her dad’s MIT hoodie and pulled it back on, then threw an old Black Sabbath jacket at Peter. They stayed like that for a long while, working around each other with silent conversations and hand gestures until the doors slid back open and her dad strolled in.

“Good news,” he said, grinning. “Rhodey’s once again been convinced of my genius and is...”

He stopped, staring at Morgan and Peter with wide eyes.

Morgan’s brows furrowed. “Dad? You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, voice slightly hoarse and eyes oddly bright. “Yeah, Little Miss. I’m fine, I —- Jeez, look at the two of you, playing Mad Scientist down here. You two alright? Holding the fort down?”

“Yeah, we’re good, Mr. Stark. We think we’ve got it all figured out,” Peter said as the doors opened again and Natasha walked in. “We’re ready.”

Natasha’s head tilted. “We are?”

“Yeah.” Holding out two watches she showed her dad and Nat what to expect. “Using some of my nanites and own specs, I altered two of your suits to be able to go through the realm,” she continued. “And synced the time on your watches to just after Peter and I left.”

Her dad grinned. “You did all this while I was arguing with Rhodey?”

Her face warmed. “Well, you argued for quite a while. And Pete helped. And once he gave me the serum I’d made, it was easy to tweak the watches and suits.”

“And you’re a genius. Don’t forget. That’s important,” he stated. Then he leaned over towards Natasha. "My kid’s a genius,” he told her.

Natasha’s lips didn’t twitch, but Morgan thought her eyes were bright with amusement. “Yes, Tony. I know.”

“I need a bumper sticker,” he said, while they put on the watches and her dad called the suits. Watching it engulf him, Morgan’s breath hitched. Her own armor was covering her in a similar way, sprawling out from the little reactor she wore on a necklace. And she’d watched countless videos of her dad suiting up, but... it was different. Her dad was becoming Iron Man, right in front of her.

It was insanely badass.

Oblivious, her dad spun in a circle. “All right, team! Let’s go kick some ass.”

Peter stepped up to her, held out his hand. Reaching out, Morgan grasped it and said, “Going Quantum.”

Her dad’s hand landed on top of hers. Morgan felt a soft squeeze before Natasha added her hand as well.

“In three...” Morgan counted, heart rate picking up.

_Let this work,_ Morgan thought staring at her family. _Please, please, let this work._

“Two...”

If it didn’t work she was so, so screwed...

“One.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've fallen WAY behind on responding to comments and posting, and I am so sorry! But I appreciate them all, thank you all so, so much for the love and kind words! <3


	11. Chapter 11

Once upon a time in his nefarious youth, Tony had gotten wasted in Vegas until he could barely walk, resulting in numerous bruises along his torso and a two-year banishment from Caesar’s Palace. The hangover that had occurred had been among the worst of his life, and he’d spent the rest of the weekend feeling like someone had taken his stomach and flipped it inside out, then left its pathetic remains decaying in an alley.

Traveling through the Quantum Realm reminded him of that weekend.

Oh, sure, it was insanely fucking cool and awesome, but while rocketing through time and space his stomach did that inside-out thing, and he spent a good twenty seconds praying he wouldn’t vomit inside his suit.

Then the vivid colors and whirling surroundings vanished, and he was back in his lab at the lake house.

“Holyyyyy...” he groaned, resisting the urge to remove his helmet and breathe in fresh air. He and Nat had sworn to keep the helmets on. “Is time travel always this awful? Ugh. I feel like I’m about to hurl.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Natasha’s voice said in his ear. “Remember that mission in France? When you barrel-rolled too many times and got sick?”

Tony shuddered. “Oh, God, you’re right. That was a bitch to clean.”

“It’ll pass soon, Mr. Stark,” Peter said.

“Awesome. Okay. What’s the situation? FRIDAY? Can you do a scan outside? What’s Osborn up to?”

When he didn’t receive an answer, Tony frowned. “Fry?”

“Apologies, Boss. It took me a moment to adjust with my future self and not trigger a security breach. The man calling himself the Green Goblin is currently engaged in battle with Captain America. He has numerous friends enhanced with Extremis, requiring the attention of the Winter Solider and the Hulk.”

“That’s it? What, are Hawkeye and Widow on vacation? Jesus, good thing we showed up. Any chance Point Break is around?”

“Mr. Odinsin is out of orbit, Boss. As is Colonel Danvers.”

“Well, if you want something right, you gotta do it yourself, I guess,” Tony huffed. “Alright, Pete and Little Miss, you help Bruce and Bucky. Nat and I will assist Cap and go after Osborn. Peter, whatever you do, do not engage with him. This is a trap for you, and it is for damn sure not gonna catch. We clear?”

“Sure, Mr. Stark.”

“Good. FRIDAY, keep an eye on the perimeter, let me know if anyone else shows up. And Nat, we need to...” he broke off at the sound of footsteps slowly coming down the hall. “What the hell? Fry, who else is here?”

Morgan’s helmet vanished, and a small little batch of nerves twitched when his daughter stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh my God,” she said. “With everything happening so fast, I didn’t get a chance to explain...”

Morgan broke off as an old man walked into the main part lab, horror all over her face.

“The hell?” Tony asked again. “FRIDAY, we don’t have time for the senior citizens discount, get this guy....”

But the old man moved, blue eyes as wide as Morgan’s.

Really, really fucking familiar blue eyes.

“Tony?”

“Holy fucking shit.” It was a joke. He was hallucinating. His eyes were playing tricks on him. No way, absolutely no _fucking_ way was this 100-year-old man Steve Rogers.

But the old guy folded his arms, and narrowed his eyes, jutting out his chin in the way only Steve Rogers could.

Holy fucking....”SPANGLES?!”

“Morgan.” Steve’s voice was different, softer, than it used to be, but there was no mistaking the Cap tone in that voice. “What did you do?”

“I uh....brought help?”

Steve frowned. “Was that really necessary? When I arrived with Bucky, the battle seemed like it could be dealt with.”

“There are sorta extenuating circumstances,” Peter explained.

“I’m sorry, is anyone gonna explain to me why Cap is suddenly a _billion_ years old?” Tony demanded, banishing his helmet. Steve had already figured it out, no need to keep his face hidden at the moment. “What the hell, Rogers, did you fall into the Fountain of Old? And I thought you were outside, FRIDAY said you were fighting Green Goblin.”

“Sam is Captain America now,” Steve said, smiling gently. “I can’t believe...wow. It’s good to see you, Tony.”

“Ah. Same goes, Cap.” Although Tony had just seen him a few days ago, but he got it. To Steve it had been years. He wasn’t always the most tactful person in the room, but he could be nice to Old Man Steve.

Eyes unbelievably lined with wrinkles and unbearably sad, Steve shifted, catching sight of Natasha. Though she still stood in the suit and had her helmet on, Steve froze.

“Nat?” He whispered. “I...Nat, is that you?”

Her helmet vanished. Steve sucked in a breath so fast Tony got a little worried he would fall over—but Old Cap didn’t fall, only gripped the back of a chair tightly.

Moving easily in her suit, Natasha walked over to him, reaching out to grab his hand. Green eyes sparkling, she said, “Hey, Steve. I see you finally embraced your inner fossil. The Smithsonian try to claim you yet?”

Squeezing her hand, Steve’s eyes slid shut, agony lining every wrinkle. Jesus. What had the old man been through? What had happened here? Tony was about to ask, but then Steve opened his eyes, and Tony grew seriously concerned Spangles would cry.

“Natasha,” Steve said, clearly trying to smile, but the edges were too wobbly.

Her head tilted. “Steve?”

“Auntie Nat...” Morgan whispered. Glancing back, Tony watched her gulp, face still slightly cringing. “I...there’s something I should tell you...”

“It’s okay, Morgan,” Natasha said quietly. “I know.”

That could have covered any number of things in Tony’s mind, but Morgan reeled back at her words and Peter’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

“You know?” Morgan squeaked.

“I do,” Natasha admitted, squeezing Steve’s hand when he let out a small noise of pain. A terrible, uneasy, feeling worked it’s way through Tony’s chest.

“You do?” Peter blinked. “But. We...we didn’t...How?”

Natasha smiled sadly. “Morgan’s eyes are as expressive as Tony’s. I knew the moment she saw me.”

The air whooshed out of Tony’s chest in a rush so fast he saw spots. “Well, shit,” he rasped, staring at Nat. No. No way. Not Natasha. She...they were both dead?!? “Romanoff...”

“It’s okay, Tony. It’s not too surprising that we both went down. Can’t stay lucky forever.”

“But...” How? If he had to bet on which Avenger would make it out of their awful missions, he’d have chosen Natasha, every time. He’d relied on it, it was the only thing that got him through a few tight spots before Morgan was born. Before the Accords split them up. If the fight took him out, Natasha would keep the Avengers on track. She would be the one to avenge.

Just as she had when he’d retired.

“Auntie Nat, I’m so sorry.” Morgan whispered, her eyes bright.

“It’s okay.” Nat said. “Really.” Nodding, she prepared to exit but Tony stepped in front of her.

“Fuck that,” he said, reaching for her hand. When she gripped his back, he blinked, clearing his throat a few times before saying. “ _Fuck _that. Whatever happened, don’t you for a second think that we don’t think you’re worth it, Tasha. Look at Old Man Cap, he’s about to bawl. You’re our family, Romanoff. Losing you is not okay.”__

__“Tony...”_ _

__With a long, shuddering exhale, Steve stepped back next to Natasha and said, “He’s right. It’s really not. You have no idea...” Steve stopped, exhaled. “Without you, and Tony, it’s been...”_ _

__A tremendous BOOM interrupted him, shaking the house so badly the windows rattled._ _

__“Right,” Tony said. “Reunions later. Take down bad guys first, then we can catch up. Cap, you wanna take point and keep an eye on things for us?” At Steve’s nod, he engaged his thrusters, and signaled to FRIDAY to open the exit route he’d made for the suits, grateful to see it was still active in the future. “Great. Let’s roll.”_ _

__He had a fucking bone to pick with Norman Osborn._ _

__

__

__Okay, so maybe he had been a little cocky about how easily the suits could take on Extremis, Tony thought, struggling to get back to his feet. Ten minutes in and they’d all scattered to deal with the massive amount of fire people._ _

__How the hell had he and Rhodey dealt with this all those years ago? Firing another repulsor blast, Tony prayed the guys wound would _actually stay a wound_ this time. Damn rapidly healing serum. To his right, Natasha took down two men and a woman, easily dancing out of their way when they tried to spit fire at her. Even in a mechanical suit she was graceful. Maybe he should have built the Widow a suit years ago._ _

__“They ever going to leave us alone, or...” he panted, shooting at a group attempting to dog-pile on Bucky. His blast distracted them, and soon the Winter Solider sent them flying._ _

__“That would be ideal,” Natasha replied. To keep their identities hidden, their helmets remained down and their voices were distorted and hidden to everyone but Peter and Morgan thanks to FRIDAY. “How the hell did you and Rhodey manage this on your own?”_ _

__Snorting, Tony shot into the air. “That’s what I’ve been wondering. Keep an eye on Bucky and Sam. I’m gonna go make sure Peter and Morgan are okay.”_ _

__Nat’s reply was to shoot a nasty guy in the gut and grunt. Laughing, Tony zoomed over the roof of the lake house, keeping his eyes peeled for Peter and Morgan. Every so often, Steve would direct orders to the group in his ear, and the grin on his face grew. It was just like old times, but better. The kid was back, and Morgan was with them, and..._ _

__And this wasn’t his time. Wasn’t his place. With a shake of his head, Tony cleared the thoughts swirling around his mind out, and slammed down to the ground, one fist smashing into the dirt in his favorite badass pose._ _

__“Everything okay over here?” He asked, raising his arms and daring the men and women in front of him to move._ _

__“Fine, Mr. Stark!” Peter said, on the other side of the porch, laughing and sending webs at a lady attempting to breathe fire. The webs effectively covered her mouth, and smoke practically billowed out her ears. Flipping up and off to deal with the next group, Peter said, “Did you know these guys breathe fire?! It’s like a really cheesy sci-fi movie around here!”_ _

__“Yeah, I know,” Tony said, stepping to the side and letting a stream of said fire shoot by. “You should have seen—-Pete, watch out!”_ _

__Insides turning to ice, Tony watched several baddies circle Peter and start turning orange. Hurtling into the air, anxious to get to Parker in time to haul him out of the way, Tony put everything he had into the thrusters —- but a familiar figure landed next to Peter before he could, already engaging and defending._ _

__“Do I really need to save your butt _again_?” Laughing, Morgan threw her arms out and sent a sonic wave at the group. They were only knocked back for a moment, but Morgan handled their onslaught like a pro, taking them down as if she were born to._ _

__Maybe she was._ _

__Legs suddenly a little wobbly, Tony stood off to the side, watching his daughter, pride beaming through him. Fucking awesome didn’t even begin to cover it. Morgan tore into the group that had surrounded Peter like an avenging angel, expertly taking down anyone daring to cross the line she had drawn. She was absolutely mesmerizing in her purple armor - commanding control of the suit in a way he’d never seen anyone else do, not even Rhodey. She owned it, clearly belonged in it._ _

__Just like him._ _

__And Peter. There’d never been any doubt, any question that Pete was a fantastic super-hero. He’d always had amazing instincts, and the heart to go with it. But now he was phenomenal, taking down the baddies with ease, making his signature snarky quips while he did._ _

__“They work well together.”_ _

__At the familiar voice, Tony jolted so bad in the helmet his teeth clacked and sliced his upper lip. “Holy shit! Ow. Fuck.”_ _

__Thankfully, FRIDAY kept his voice from echoing outside of the suit so no one could hear his internal cursing. Not even the woman who had just snuck up on him. Shifting just a little, annoyed he bit his damn lip, Tony faced the newcomer. Probably he should continue to keep his identity secret. But in this case, something told him he needed to make one more exception._ _

__And if he had to guess, her comment to him indicated she already knew who he was, anyway._ _

__Lifting the faceplate, Tony smiled at the woman who once saved his life in outer space._ _

__“Hey, Nebs.”_ _

__Nebula didn’t move. Not that she was very expressive to begin with, but they way she watched him now without moving an inch made his hands twitch._ _

__“You’re dead.”_ _

__Tony winced. “Yeah, I got that memo. Sorry.”_ _

__Still, she didn’t move, didn’t blink. “You’re dead. Yet my scans say you are not a fake. How are you here?”_ _

__“Time travel. Who knew that was a possibility?”_ _

__Finally, a head tilt. Just like the one he got once upon a time when he suggested playing a game to pass the time. As if she had no idea how to read him, and was waiting for the other shoe to drop or attack her._ _

__“You did,” she finally said, quietly. “You knew a lot.”_ _

__He was a genius, but that was probably giving him too much credit. “Nebula—“_ _

__“I came to Terra to visit Rhodey,” she interrupted. “When he got the call, he asked me to sit with Pepper. I’d rather bash heads together, but he assured me that by her side was the best place for me, in case danger made its way to her. When he didn’t quickly return I promised I would check on him.”_ _

__“Thanks, Nebs. Really. You have no idea how....”_ _

__“You were my friend.” The words were said briskly, as casually as if they were discussing the weather, but Tony knew the weight behind them._ _

__“Nebs,” he began, but she spoke again._ _

__“I don’t have many friends,” she continued. “You were one of them. You showed how to have fun. I am not good at fun, but I can beat Rhodey at the football game.”_ _

__“Good,” Tony grinned. “He deserves to get his ass kicked now and then.”_ _

__A very, very small smile crossed her lips. Then vanished as she said, “On the anniversary of your death, Rhodey and I play the paper football. I do not know how else to honor you, but Rhodes assures me that it is the best route.”_ _

__“I—-“ Unsure of what else to say, Tony nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s perfect.”_ _

__Nebula nodded back. “Your daughter is constantly well protected.”_ _

__“Uh. Thanks?”_ _

__“She does not need it, but I owe you that, and more, for what you have done. So I will keep silent, and not reveal that you are here out of time. I’ll go back to watching over your Pepper.”_ _

__A small, sharp pain sliced through him at the thought of Pepper. He shouldn’t see her, shouldn’t get her hopes up in this time, but....how could he not make sure she was okay?_ _

__Clearing his throat, forcing it to the back of his mind for now, Tony said, “Thanks, Nebula. For...everything.”_ _

__Nodding again, Nebula turned to go. But just before striding out of the clearing, she paused, looked over her shoulder. “They mourn you, still. They are not the only ones. Good luck, Stark.”_ _

__Before he could pick his jaw off the ground to respond, she was gone._ _

__“Huh.” Back of his throat burning, eyes a little too watery to call it allergies, Tony studied where Nebula had stood. Blue Meanie had had a hell of a life. It was good to see she’d been doing well, that Rhodey was looking after her, too. She deserved a little happiness after the hell her bastard father had put her through._ _

__To his left there was a high-pitched repulsor whine, a shriek, and a quick round of bullets exploding. Shaking himself, Tony shot into the sky. What the hell was he doing? He was in the middle of a battle. All these reunions were getting to his head. Putting it aside was best, there was too much to digest at the moment._ _

__And he still had to get to Osborn, that bastard was still engaged and fighting with Sam on the other side of the lake._ _

__Veering left, Tony charged over water. It was time to end this, to keep his kids safe. Osborn was going down._ _

__But something niggled at the back of his mind, while an itch twitched between his shoulder blades. FRIDAY remained silent and Steve issued no warnings so things _should_ be fine, it should all be okay, but something was off._ _

__“Get me Morgan’s feed,” Tony ordered, terror curling low in his gut. She was fine, logically he knew it. Hadn’t he just watched her easily defend herself? Hadn’t Nebula just confirmed Morgan was a hero in her own right, needing no defending?_ _

__But the terror snaking through him didn’t relent. It was too similar to the time he’d gotten a bad feeling when Morgan was an eighteen-month-old, and raced to her room in time to see her her shoving a toy in her mouth, nearly choking on it._ _

__Parental instincts were something Tony always shoved off as bullshit before becoming a parent, but they were screaming at him while he waited for FRIDAY’s feed. Something was wrong, something he’d missed, and every cell in his body insisted his daughter was in danger because of it._ _

__The HUD flickered - a new screen opening, showing Morgan’s feed, informing him of her vitals._ _

__She was fine._ _

___Thank God_ , was all he could think, practically crying with relief. She was fine, parental instincts _were_ bullshit, nothing was wrong at all..._ _

__Making sure he didn’t fly into a tree, Tony sighed, preparing to order FRIDAY to cut the feed. He had a fight of his own to worry about._ _

__But like fingers scratching down a chalkboard, nerves once again streaked down his spine, his instincts once again shrieking that something was wrong, to pay goddamn attention._ _

__So he snapped his eyes back to Morgan’s feed, just to confirm, just to make _sure_ she was fine..._ _

__In time to see Green Goblin materialize out of thin air next to her, and fire an electric shock at her face._ _

_“MORGAN!”_


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Quietly tiptoes onto AO3, peeking around* Anyone still here? 
> 
> SO sorry for the delayed update, RL got crazy again, and I am so behind on posting and responding to comments. (Thank you to anyone who takes the time to comment, they really mean so much to me!) On the brightside, I'm down with bronchitis which gave me a little time to edit chapters, so here are two more in apology for the long wait!

_Shit, shit, shit!_ was all Morgan could think when the Green Goblin appeared _out of freaking nowhere_. What the crap?! How had he gotten past FRIDAY, past her sensors?

Such a thing shouldn’t be possible!

Not that she got much chance to ponder. In another two seconds, the palms on the Green Goblin’s armor started to light up, he pressed a button on his wrist, and some sort of shock was sent straight at her head again.

“Fuck!” She shouted, before she could stop herself. In her earpiece, her dad bellowed her name, and she was fairly certain it wasn’t because of her language. But there wasn’t much she could do to control it, the force of the Green Goblin’s strike knocked her off her feet, scrambling her HUD. She saw nothing but static, and so was unable to defend herself when the Green Goblin attacked again. This time, she reeled back, stunned by the pain exploding through her temples. The confused movement cost her — another hit was delivered to the side of her head.

“Morgan!”

Peter. That was Peter screaming in her ear this time, but it was hard to hear him, her ears were ringing thanks to all the hits she had taken. From what she could tell, someone was distracting him, keeping him away.

“Armor integrity down 17%,” FRIDAY said in her earpiece. _Crap_ , Morgan thought, doing her best to fling an arm out. That wasn’t good news. She had to figure out a way to stop this, to get the Goblin to back off. She would not be stuck like some damsel in distress, she could handle this!

When her elbow connected with something, she grinned, and slammed her arm out again. Ha, she thought, hearing a grunt. She could still cause damage. Fighting in the darkness was horrendously unnerving, but if she could keep him distracted while her suit reconfigured itself, she might make it out of this alive.

Except her attacker was no idiot. On Morgan’s next attempt to lash out, her arm was caught, twisted, and held on place while another shock went straight into her ribs.

This time, the hit was so severe part of the armor cracked, but the nanites were able to quickly repair it. Thank God, Morgan thought. At least the nano-tech was still working.

“Power Mallet!” She ordered, and the gauntlet twisted to form a hammer from her hand. Twisting out of the Goblin’s grip, swinging out blindly, Morgan was able to hit _something_ , and felt a surge of triumph. Yes! Just like that. She could do this. Gasping with pain, Morgan struggled to keep upright, firmly telling herself not to gall over. It was dark, and she was hurting but she’d been through worse, she could handle it...

Another shock zapped along her middle, and she dropped to her knees, Power Mallet vanishing.

“Armor integrity down 20%,” FRIDAY said. “Hang on, Morgan. Boss and Mr. Parker are attempting assistance, but several Extremis users have them surrounded.”

Okay, that _really_ wasn’t good, but it could still be worse. She could hang on until help arrived.

“Morgan hold on, I’ll be right there!” Her dad demanded as another punishing blow was dealt to her stomach. Even through the armor she felt the connection of the Goblin’s fist connecting with her mid-section. Dazedly she wondered how badly it would bruise.

“FR...FRIDAY,” she wheezed, trying to fight off the dizziness rolling through her. She would not pass out. She would _not_ pass out. “What’s wrong with my screens?”

“Working on it, Mini-Boss. He did something to scramble all your sensors. Rebooting now.”

“Any chance you can hurry it up a bit?” She asked, wincing when another strike knocked her backward. Ow, shit, what the hell. How had the Goblin known where to attack on her suit? She was as useless as a turtle like this!

“Almost there. Hang in there, Mini- Boss. Visuals have been repaired and are initiating now.”

Even as she finished saying it, the HUD flickered and Morgan caught sight of the Green Goblin standing over her, arm lifted to shock her with his electric jolt again.

Like hell. Rolling to the left just in time, Morgan got out of the way and raised her own arms in return.

“FRIDAY, light him up!” Morgan yelled. The familiar, high-pitched whine of her repulsors flared to life, and then shot out a beam to collide directly with the Goblin’s head. Snapping it back, the Green Goblin stumbled away from Morgan in time for Peter to swoop in out of nowhere and tackle the Goblin to the side.

“Take that,” Morgan muttered, shoving to her feet.

Boots slammed down next to her, and then her dad was there, grasping her hand and helping her stay upright. Which was a good thing, if he hadn’t, she very easily could have toppled over.

The ringing in her ears had only gotten louder.

“Morgan. Mor! Are you okay?”

“Yup. All good.” Maybe her ears would go back to normal soon. At least the dizziness had faded. “It would have been worse if Fry hadn’t gotten my screens back. Thanks, FRIDAY.”

“Of course, Mini Boss.”

“Fry, what are her vitals?” Her dad demanded. “Where’s she hurt, where did he hit her?”

“Dad, I’m fine—-“

“Multiple contusions to her right side and abdomen. Bruised ribs. Pupils are blown, and her inability to stop swaying might indicate a hearing imbalance.”

Anger surged through Morgan. “I’m FINE—-“

“And the armor?”

“Armor integrity down 40%, Boss.”

Yeesh, that sounded bad. But really, she could still handle it. “Dad, don’t worry about it, I can...”

“Nope, you’re benched,” her dad interrupted. “If the armor is too damaged and you can’t stay upright, you need to be horizontal for a bit. Fry, take her home. Cap can keep an eye on her.”

“Dad! No way!” Morgan protested, but it was too late, the suit was moving on its own, preparing to launch into the sky. And that just was not happening, she was not being sent to her room while her dad and Peter fought some guy who could take them out of commission....

“Guys!? Avengers??” Peter’s voice erupted through the comms, and the movement of her suit paused. “A little help?!”

The Iron Man helmet snapped down in seconds. “Be right there, kid. FRIDAY, send Mor home.”

“But—-!”

Too late. Her thrusters engaged and she took flight.

“No, no, no! FRIDAY, send me back!” Twisting, she fought for control back as her screens brought up the reason Peter had called for help.

He was completely surrounded. All of the Extremis users circled Peter and the Green Goblin. The Goblin stood triumphantly in front of Peter, head back in a laugh, while her Dad, Nat, Rhodey, and Bucky fought and attempted to break through their lines.

“Boss had very strict orders,” FRIDAY said.

“I don’t care, you need to let me help!” Morgan shouted as the Goblin attacked Peter. There were so many of the Extremis army still alive, shooting fire at Rhodey and Bucky. On the other side of the lake Sam and Hulk fought to get around explosions that had been triggered and was raining debris on them.

“Morgan, if you aren’t coming back, Sam could use an extraction,” Steve said in her ear as Bruce let out a pissed off roar and leapt over the lake.

“No, Peter, I need to help Peter,” Morgan argued. Losing him was not an option.

“Your dad’s got Peter’s back,” Steve said calmly. “He always has. Sam, however, could really use some help.”

Jealousy should not have rippled through her at Steve’s words, but it roared its ugly head anyway. Yes, her dad _did_ always have Peter’s back. Even when he’d thought Peter dusted, and long past rescuing, he still fought to find a way to bring him back. Had succeeded at it too.

Of course he would watch over Peter now. Wasn’t that why they had brought him with them?

So she squashed the jealousy down, and tried again with FRIDAY.

“Fry, let me go get Sam. It’s out of the way. No danger involved.”

“Altering flight path,” FRIDAY stated, and Morgan was once again able to direct the course of the suit.

“Cap, what are you doing on the other side of the lake, napping?” Morgan asked, zeroing in on Sam’s position. “Time to wake up, I’m coming to get you.”

Sam's droll response rang through her comm. “Gee, thanks, Baby Stark. Wherever would I be without you?”

“Stuck all by your lonesome self in explosion land, apparently,” Morgan muttered, reaching out her hand. Taking a large leap, Sam hurtled into the air and caught her hand. “We really gotta work on fixing your wings.”

“Don’t I know it,” Sam replied as Morgan charged over the lake toward the battle. “And don’t listen to the old man, in there,” Sam continued, before Steve could say a word. “Captain America can damn well fly.”

“I never said you couldn’t, Sam. I just wondered if you should,” Steve said primly, making Morgan laugh. It was an old, silly, argument between them. “Morgan, there’s a spot near Bucky you can drop him. Sam, on your left.”

“That’s my line now, asshole,” Sam muttered, shifting as Morgan prepared to drop him. “And Morgan, we’re gonna have a meeting after we finish kicking Extremis ass. Don’t think I haven’t noticed a certain armor being a little more animated than the others.”

Morgan winced. Busted. “Pretty sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna fly. We’re talking as soon as the battle is over, Stark, so don’t even try...”

“Sorry, Cap, there’s your landing spot!” Morgan hollered. “Bye!”

Releasing her grip, she dropped Sam directly next to Bucky, angling it so he collapsed directly on top of a woman about to hit the Winter Solider from behind.

From the curses and shouts that erupted through her earpiece, Sam wasn’t exactly thrilled at her drop off.

“That’s gonna come back to haunt you,” Steve said, and Morgan was pretty sure she could hear him laughing. “FRIDAY, send her—-Morgan, watch out!”

Already ahead of him, Morgan rolled, getting out of the way. Just in time, too, a small missile zipped by her, exploding seconds later.

“Yikes,” Morgan muttered. That had been close.

“Indeed,” FRIDAY agreed. “We need to get you back.”

That wasn’t happening. Before FRIDAY could re-direct her, Morgan turned and flew to where Peter still battled the Goblin, her dad by his side. Steve had been right, she realized, watching them work together. Her dad had Pete’s back, and Peter was working alongside him just fine. Maybe she did need to...

Watch her own freaking back, because another missile was zooming her way, and where the heck were those coming from?

With FRIDAY’s help, she was once again able to swerve, but it led her straight into view of the group on the ground. As if her flying past was what he wanted, the Green Goblin’s head snapped up, and his eyes locked on Morgan. Then he was up and in the air in an instant, soaring toward her on his glider.

“Mor!” Her dad yelled. But before he could launch up and after her himself, the fire army turned and swarmed him and Peter. In moments they were buried in Extremis users, and out of Morgan’s sight.

“Dad! Pete!” Morgan shouted, but there was no sign of them, they were completely swarmed. As if by magic, the number of the Goblin’s army doubled; all Morgan could hear was the sound of frustrated cursing through her comms.

“They’ll be fine, Morgan, focus on yourself!” Steve ordered, and shit, he was right, the Green Goblin was right behind her.

“Heat-seeking missiles are locked on your position,” FRIDAY stated. “Evasive maneuvers prepared.”

Reading the suggestions as they lit up her screen, Morgan quickly got the gist and twisted and turned, banking the suit faster than she ever had before. It worked —- the missiles missed, but more didn’t stop chasing after her. She kept rolling and dodging, twisting so sharply her ears rang again. It wasn’t long before Morgan was slightly nauseous, gulping in her helmet and trying to keep her pizza down.

“We need to go on offense,” she tiredly stated. “Fry, do we have any energy beams we can use to—-is that a FLAMETHROWER?!”

Not bothering to wait for FRIDAY’s response (because shit, that _was_ a flamethrower) Morgan flipped, threw her arms up and yelled, “Shield!”

The good thing about her armor was that the nanites could easily shield against things like heat and ice. And mother-freaking-flamethrowers, Morgan thought, sighing as the flame extinguished and she was still alive. The bad news was that with all the electric shocks and hits she had been taking, the armor’s integrity was down over 50% now. The nano-tech wasn’t going to be able to keep up if this battle didn’t end soon.

“Fry, power up the Cluster Cannon!” It was her favorite move, one she had tweaked a little in appearance just for her suit, to give her a bit of a different look from her dad. At once, the two ion cannons around her hands, and the four additional cannons that came out of the suit's back, flared to life. Morgan grinned, ready for her six shots to form a devastatingly powerful beam of energy and take down the Goblin.

He lifted a hand, pressed a button on his wrist.

The cluster cannon did nothing. Morgan’s HUD flickered, glitched, and turned to static, before going back to the darkness she experienced earlier.

The suit went dead.

She waited for FRIDAY, her dad, or Peter to shout in alarm, but even her comms were dead. The only thing she could hear was the thundering of her heart and the screaming of the wind as she catapulted through the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morgan's suit is based off the one Tony wears in Infinity War. (Because it's awesome, and I figure she would like to use a suit similar to the one that made Thanos bleed). All the info on the Bleeding Edge armor and Goblin's glider I got from Wikipedia, as I haven't read those comics (please be kind if I butchered them completely!)
> 
> Also, my Green Goblin is very heavily based off of the one in the 2002 Spider-Man, just in case anyone wonders about his behavior in upcoming chapters!


	13. Chapter 13

A lot of things had fucking terrified Tony over the years.

Waking up hooked to a car battery in a cave obviously topped the list. The goddamned wormhole wasn’t far behind. Not to mention Pepper plummeting thirty feet to a fiery inferno. That one still popped up every so often, followed closely by a scared teen fading to dust in his arms.

Rhodey falling out of the sky. Obie stealing the reactor.

Thanos.

No, Tony wasn’t new to fear, or being terrified.

But watching the reactor go dead on Morgan’s suit? Being helpless as his daughter become dead weight in the air, forced to watch her plummet to the ground?

That was a whole new level of terror and hysteria.

“Morgan!! FRIDAY, pull her chute!” He yelled, every cell in his body screaming in terror. Would it work, with the suit dead? Was there enough of FRIDAY still operating to control the release panel?

The safety chute released, and Tony nearly sagged in relief. Thank fucking God. He was about to say such, but he didn’t get the chance. Norman Osborn aimed a blast at his daughters safety net, slicing it cleanly.

Morgan tumbled helplessly through the air again.

Rage so raw he shook with it engulfed him as she fell to the ground, plummeting into another cabin in the distance with a horrendous crash. Before Tony could even vocalize it, his suit fired up his repulsor cannon, taking the head clear off the man he’d been fighting. It wasn’t pretty, and awfully barbaric, but Tony didn’t care. In seconds he was in the air, foot thrusters engaged to get him to Morgan as soon as possible.

She’d be okay. The suit could handle a fall, who knew that better than he? She hadn’t fallen as far as Rhodey, and he’d built them to handle a bad crash. Plus, the parachute had slowed her descent a little before the Green Goblin cut it. Her landing wouldn’t be smooth, but she would be okay.

Except she’d still be hurt and vulnerable to Norman’s next attack. The Green Goblin had rendered her suit useless and for whatever reason, was now going after her.

His child. He was threatening Tony’s child, could have massively harmed or killed her...

“Mr. Stark!” Peter was behind him. How the hell was Parker so close behind him? Adjusting his cameras, Tony nearly snorted at the sight of the little shit flying behind him, thanks to a web he’d attached to Iron Man. “Mr. Stark, be careful this is probably some kind of trap!”

Like Tony possibly cared.

“Sir,” Peter tried, but Tony was at the cabin now and slammed into the porch.

“OSBORN.” Tony thundered, banishing his helmet. Peter winced behind him. Tony didn’t care. He’d warned Osborn once to stay away. He would damn well make sure the man would pay for the disobedience.

“Well, hello, Stark,” a snide voice said. There was a creak of the floorboards, and then Norman Osborn stepped into the living room, dragging Morgan in front of him.

Blood was trickling down her nose and across her temple. She limped and hissed a bit as Norman pulled her over, and her hair was a mess, but otherwise she was fine. Fine and wonderfully alive.

“You’re looking pretty good for a dead guy,” Norman continued. “What is this? Some new kind of Stark technology, allowing a second chance at life?”

Tony found that for once he had no temperance for witticisms or banter. “Let my daughter go before I blast your fucking ass to Tuesday, Osborn.”

Norman’s eyes widened in fake surprise. “But I went to all this trouble to get Ms. Stark here. You can’t expect me to just let her go now. Of course, I expected to catch a spider with this trap, but I can be flexible.”

“You went after Morgan to capture Peter.” If he’d thought he was enraged before, it was nothing compared to the fire that burned through his veins now.

“Wasn’t even all that hard,” Norman snorted. Morgan’s nostrils flared, and she attempted to slam an elbow up and into Norman’s nose, but Osborn caught on and twisted out of the way.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he chided, squeezing Morgan’s arm until she cried out.

The fire in Tony’s blood turned to ice.

“Stop,” Peter said, face darker than Tony had ever seen. “Stop it.”

“Such an overprotective family,” Norman scoffed, keeping Morgan safely in front of him still but relaxing his grip. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. It was like Christmas when Ms. Stark joined OsCorp as an intern. All I had to do was bribe a few of my more desperate employees and suddenly, I had access to all of Ms. Stark’s projects and screens. Insights to her suit and its mechanics. They were heavily guarded and coded but it was enough to give me a few options to work with. And when she reached out to poor Smith for help with Extremis...well. Then I suddenly had a such a wonderful opportunity for chaos and destruction.”

“You know, I actually don’t give two shits about your evil plan.” Tony lifted his arm, instructed the nanites to adjust until he had his repulsor cannon again. “Let go of my fucking kid.”

“Did you think I was going to just let you waltz in here and take the girl back? This is standard super-hero negation, Stark, you should know that. I’ve got backup on the way to surround you, and ensure Mr. Parker comes with me. Otherwise, Ms. Stark here gets a dose of an injection that will be rather painful until she dies or gets the antidote.”

“You want me to go with you?” To his credit, Peter’s voice didn’t even waver. “Fine. Let her go.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Tony interrupted. Like hell that would happen.

“Of course, I didn’t consider you’d be around, Stark. And I do love the idea of making you miserable after you threw me in a cell to rot.” Norman’s face twisted, tightening into a leer. “Maybe I should inject Mr. Parker here, too, make a game of it.” He lifted his arm, lazily aiming at Peter. “I’ve only got one antidote. Who would you choose, Stark? Which kid would live?”

Peter went stiff beside him. Morgan’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, as if she hated the question as well. Tony kept his face blank, not falling for Norman’s trap, though fury had his heartbeat roaring in his ears. That son of a bitch. Did he think he’d really get away with threatening Peter and Morgan?

Evidently he did, if the smug smirk was anything to go by. Fucker.

And yet. Osborn wasn’t the only one smirking slightly...

“I think you forgot a thing or two, Osborn,” he said, clamping down on the rage to do what needed to be done. Tony wouldn’t kill Norman. Oh, no. For messing with his family, Tony was prepared to do far worse.

“Oh?” Osborn sneered, and that pretty much decided it.

Lowering his cannon, enjoying the way Osborn’s eyes lit up in apparent triumph, Tony said. “My kids don’t need me to kick ass for them. Little Miss?”

“Dad taught us a few other things,” Morgan said, before tossing her head back into Norman’s nose. “Like always having a way out.”

Cursing, the Goblin tensed to retaliate, blood dripping down his face (Morgan had broken his nose, Tony noted with glee). Morgan didn’t give him the chance. Reaching for something small on her hip, she lifted her arm, and sprayed a small canister of pepper spray at Osborn’s face.

Tony stepped forward as Osborn shrieked and pushed Morgan away, ready to defend, but there was no need. Quickly following up with a punch that would have made Natasha proud, Morgan slammed her fist into Osborn’s face, directly into his nose, bartering it further. Unable to block her, (likely thanks to his red and streaming eyes), howling, Osborn staggered back, flipping his helmet back up to protect his head and face.

“Smith!” Osborn roared. “Backup!”

Before he could get out much more or defend himself, Peter was there, swinging into Norman with a kick that sent the Goblin toppling back into the wall.

“Smith!” Osborn called weakly, struggling up.

Tony began to laugh. “Oh, he won’t be coming. The team is pretty pissed off you went after Morgan, Hulk went into a rage and pretty much smashed the hell out of your army.” Tony's comm was working just fine, and he'd listened as Steve confirmed it.

“I’ve still got myself,” Norman hissed, tapping a button, sending the glider roaring to life behind them.

Shifting, Tony aimed his cannon at it, grinning when the cannon effectively blew the glider to smithereens.

“Oops,” Tony said.

Norman released a pained gasp at that, then re-grouped and attacked again in seconds, sending electric shocks at Peter. But Peter was better, dancing out of the way and throwing out punches so fast Tony could barley keep up. Again and again Norman’s head snapped back, until the helmet snapped and broke entirely.

Breathing heavy, Peter stood over the Green Goblin, nostrils flaring.

“Mr. Stark also taught us that if you’re nothing without your suit, you shouldn’t have it.” Reaching down, Peter yanked at the Goblin’s helmet, throwing it away. Osborn blinked up at him with bleary eyes.

“You shouldn’t have messed with my sister,” Peter said quietly.

“Like I’m afraid—-“

“Boss, back up is arriving shortly,” FRIDAY announced, interrupting Norman’s snarl. “As are others. I recommend putting your helmet up.”

Right. He was supposed to be dead. Doing as FRIDAY suggested, he ordered her to do a quick scan of Morgan, watching her vitals closely. She had been through a lot the last few hours. He really needed to get her checked over.

Morgan twisted, wiping her bloody temple. “What?” She asked when Tony blinked at her. “I’m fine.”

“You’re going straight to medical,” Tony ordered.

Her eyes rolled. “Okay, Dad.”

Despite himself, Tony laughed. “So. Pepper spray, huh?” He asked, as the door banged open and Sam ran in.

Morgan blushed. “Mom makes me carry it. Said it’s smart to have something to defend myself when I can’t rely on the suit. Apparently it happens.”

The laugh that erupted out of him felt good, despite the terror of the last few hours. “Well, if there’s one thing I’ve leaned in my life, it’s to listen to your mom. She’s rarely wrong.”

“Yeah,” Morgan agreed. And then she scooter over, shifting so they were standing together, watching the Avengers round Osborn up.

 

 

Later, Tony stood to the side, watching wrap-up. The team worked well together, he noted, while Bucky and Sam discussed the best ways to keep the Extremis users locked up. Bruce stood over an unconscious group of them, as if he were just waiting for them to wake. Several suits commanded by FRIDAY did the same. Rhodey and Peter hurried about, checking on them and discussing how to render their powers obsolete.

Morgan had sullenly gone inside, to get checked over by Natasha and Steve. Tony stood over Osborn, pretending to be part of the Iron Legion standing guard. They’d stuck him in a squad car while dealing with the Extremis army, and he sat with that damn smirk still on his face, as if he had plans to break free any moment.

When Tony was certain no one was watching, he bent down low, and clapped one hand on Norman’s back, where his neck met his shoulders.

“You planning on telling how you’re still alive?” Norman asked. His eyes were still violently red, though they had stopped streaming tears.

“Technically, I haven’t died,” Tony said.

It only took a few seconds before Osborn rolled his eyes. “Time travel, eh? Figures. Not like it matters. You know I’ll get back out, Stark. That kid is mine eventually. Perhaps you should have killed me when you had the chance.”

Another sneer, like he was taunting, like he _wanted_ Tony to shoot his ass in front of everyone. Instead Tony straightened, removing his arm, and calmly asked, “You ever watch or read _The Princess Bride?_ ”

“Please,” Norman rolled his eyes. “Is this the part where you boo me? Or tell me we duel to the pain?”

Inside his helmet, Tony lifted an eyebrow. “You know it?”

“Yes, I know it. Classic piece of pop culture and literature, Harry loved it as a child. Are you to slice me to bits for the rest of my life? Feet, hands, nose, tongue...the villain lives the rest of his life in pain, right? But his ears he keeps, so he can hear the shrieks of fear everyone he meets perfectly.” Osborn scoffed. “Aren’t most heroes too self-righteous for that kind of behavior?”

“Sometimes the line blurs,” Tony said softly.

“Aaaah. And the point emerges. Are you really saying you’re considering dismembering me, Stark?”

He would have done that and more. Fury, sharp and blinding, raced through Tony as he considered all the actions Norman had taken to bring them here. “You attacked my children, wreaked havoc on their home, and threatened their lives.”

“And?”

Grinning widely, enjoying this part, Tony said, “And you’ll live, Osborn. I won’t be chopping parts of you into little pieces, as tempting and grotesque as that may be. I prefer to take a more technological approach. Futurist and all.”

“How kind.” Again with the eye roll. His complete lack of fear was honestly a little insulting. Tony wasn’t known for his patience, but he could bend a little in this instance.

So he was deadly calm when he said, “What you don’t realize, Norman, is that you’re already fucked. That little shoulder clap earlier? I had nanites inject themselves into your system without you even noticing.”

Norman didn’t flinch, but it was a close thing. He certainly paled. “That doesn’t-“

“They’re set to activate at random times,” Tony interrupted, getting closer leaning down and lifting the face plate a little so that Norman would know—he would damn well _know_ —just who he had decided to fuck with. FRIDAY would blank screens or warn him if anyone looked too closely. “In a pattern even I don’t know. They’re combined with an old sonic taser tech Stane was fond of. I tweaked it a bit, of course.”

Not that he’d thought he’d ever use it. The sonic taser tinkering had been the result of a bad night not long after he’d returned from Titan. Memories of Obie and Thanos had swirled together in his brain, blending the two bastards in a twisted macabre, both of them looming over Tony while he was powerless to stop it.

Getting out the sonic taser schematics, tweaking them with the nanites until he thought he could use it on the next alien threat, kept him from losing it completely.

And wasn’t it just dandy he knew how to order FRIDAY to use them?

Grin widening, he continued, “The sonic taser will go off, once a day, a sound only you will hear, a frequency that will render only you immobile. Meanwhile, the nanites will choose one spot, one specific part of your body, and then attack.”

Osborn’s eyes widened, and Tony’s voice hardened as he said, “They’ll swirl beneath your skin, as if they were a living thing clawing to get free. Sharp and biting one second, searing and scalding the next. Over and over they’ll attack, stabbing, squeezing, tearing, until you’re certain something is gnawing at you from the inside. Writhing in distress, desperate to end the suffering, it’s then you will beg someone to cut off your hand, your leg, your nose, in an effort to get the excruciating agony to cease.”

Leaning in closer, Tony hissed, “No one will find the nanites, not a soul will believe your pain is real. I made sure of it. You’ll never know when it will start, how long it will last, or when it will end. Each day you’ll be tormented, wondering when it will start, slowly going mad.”

Tony stopped, narrowed his eyes, and bent in further while Norman paled and a bead of sweat slid down his forehead.

“If you come near my kids or the other Avengers, or make plans to harm them ever again, the system will set to overkill and you will know nothing but the pain until you die. Game over. But I hope you don’t do that,” Tony added, pushing back, sending the face plate back it where it belonged. “I hope you live for a long, long time.”

“Stark.” Norman’s word was almost a whisper, a small tremor of terror. 

“I told you not to fuck with my kids,” Tony said.

And walked away.

 

 

 

“I don’t want to know what you and Norman talked about, do I?” Steve asked some time later. The bad guys had been wrangled away, most of the Avengers had returned to the Compound, (though Sam had sent Tony a number of looks), and Steve and Tony stood at the edge of the lake, watching the water. Somewhere inside Natasha sat with Morgan while Peter called May.

“Do I want to know why you're suddenly 100?" Tony countered. "I have a feeling it isn't because you stopped doing calisthenics." 

Making a small, noncommittal, noise, Steve smiled and ignored the question, instead tilting his head. “What’s next for you, Tony? The kids are safe from Osborn. Will you be heading back?”

Looking down at the small vial he held in his hands, Tony knew he should say yes. That he should tell Steve goodbye right now, go inside for Natasha, and somehow say goodbye to Morgan and Peter. Before leaving became impossible.

But he rolled the vial in his hands, and knew, in his heart, that he couldn’t leave. Not yet.

“I’ve got one more stop to make,” he said softly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I got seriously behind on updates and comments, but I swore I would get this done before the New Year, and I managed it! Woo! I'm so sorry for the long wait. Without further ado, here are the final few chapters. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy <3

Everything hurt.

Groaning, Morgan gripped the edge of the kitchen counter and tried to keep the room from spinning. Natasha had cleaned her up, and left to get her some pain meds. Steve was still out chatting with her dad. She wasn’t sure where everyone else had gone, but she knew without a doubt Peter was pacing outside on the porch. Every so often, a mop of dark curls would storm past the window, and she could hear mutterings while he paced.

Things were never good when Peter was pacing.

It could have been worse, she told herself, while taking a deep breath. It could have been _so_ much worse. Any injury she had was her fault, she knew that without a doubt. She’d screwed up. She’d really screwed up, and if her dad and Peter hadn’t been on top of things, the day’s ending could have been completely different.

As if he knew her thoughts, that was the moment Peter strode into the lake house, shaking his head.

“Okay. All right,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Right. I need to do the thing. Because if I don’t do the thing, you’re going to think it’s okay to not listen and not listening? Not good. So. Here’s the thing,” he said, narrowing his eyes, and pointing at her. “Morgan....”

“I trusted the wrong people,”she interrupted, staring at the floor. “Started this whole thing because I wanted to do it all myself. I nearly got a lot of people hurt, and then I nearly got you and dad trapped because of all the bad decisions I made by not listening during the battle.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Peter’s hand drop. “Uh. Yeah. Yeah, that…exactly,” he said, stepping further the room,. There were a few beats of silence, and then he said, “You’re not gonna argue?”

Shame filling her, Morgan continued to stare at the floor. “No. I know I messed up,” she said quietly.

“Yeah. Yeah, you did,” Peter agreed, moving to hop up on the counter next to her. “More than once.”

Oof, Morgan thought, wincing. That hurt. It was one thing for her mom to get mad, for Happy or Rhodey or Bruce to inform her all the ways she’d made mistakes.

But Peter?

He was the one person who always had her back.

Swallowing, blinking back the shame, Morgan made herself say the words he deserved to hear. “I’m sorry.”

Reaching over, Peter squeezed her shoulder gently. “Hey. Baby Stark, I know. Trust me. You think I don’t know exactly how you feel? You think we all don’t know?”

Morgan shook her head. “It’s different. I really messed up.”

“Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner created a murder-bot, and I gave the most advanced drone system in the world to Quentin Beck,” Peter said dryly. “Believe me. You are not the first to mess up.”

She was half-tempted to smile at his attempt to make her feel better, but Morgan thought of the terror that had clawed through her as she’d listened to Osborn taunt her dad about hurting Peter and wasn’t able to. “How do I fix it?”

“Oh.” He blinked, then frowned. “You learn from your mistakes,” he said. “Which we will be going over. Everything that happened in the battle. In detail. With Cap. And MJ, she’s great at pointing out where someone goes wrong, believe me. And you’ll tell your mom about the battle. Don’t argue, Morgan, I really don’t wanna hear it.”

Morgan started shaking her head. “Peter. No. Don’t make me tell Mom, come on...”

“Oh, now I gotta hear it?” Peter scowled, but then the corners of his lips curved. “Wow. Never thought I’d be the one saying that. But yes. You tell Mrs. Stark. If you don’t tell her she’ll figure it out eventually anyway, and I’m not going to be the one she comes after. Mrs. Stark is terrifying.”

“She’s not that bad.”

“The only person scarier than your mom when she’s mad is Aunt May.” He shuddered. “Anyway. Then we’ll train.”

“Train?” Morgan’s head lifted at the word, unable to understand. “But. I thought...”

“That I’d say no, you’re benched and never joining the team? It definitely crossed my mind,” Peter admitted. Running a hand over his face, he sighed, then said, “Some of the mistakes you made were because you haven’t been trained with the team. Steve’s great, he’s the best, but training with the rest of us....it’s time.”

Morgan wondered if she hit her head harder than she thought. “It is?”

Biting his lip, Peter watched her with thoughtful eyes for a few moments. “You know, Happy told me once that he didn’t think Mr. Stark would have been able to do what he’d done if he didn’t know I would be here after him.”

“Um. Okay...” Morgan said, blinking. That had been a fast change of topic.

As if he’d heard her thoughts, he nudged her. “I promise there’s a point. See at the time, Mr. Stark had just....he’d just saved the universe. And everyone was looking for the next Iron Man, and they thought it was me. Well, they thought it was Spider-Man, and I didn’t think I could live up to it. I couldn’t do it, Morgan. But Happy, he told me....Not even Mr. Stark was perfect. He second-guessed himself a lot, was always trying to live up to himself. But he was sure about me.”

“Of course he was, Pete.” Morgan smiled, reached for Peter’s hand. “Dad loved you. He was always so sure you’d make the best hero of us all.”

“Yeah. Well,” Peter said, eyes shining. He took a minute to squeeze her hand back. “I’m not sure about that, but...thanks, Mor.”  


“It’s true.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Maybe it was.” Peter blinked rapidly a few times. “The thing is, Morgan, I kinda understand how Mr. Stark felt now.”

Head tilting, Morgan tried to figure out where Peter was going with his story now. “What do you mean?”

“He had faith in me. Even when he probably shouldn’t. Back with the whole Vulture stuff, he listened to me, called the FBI on a group even though everyone told him not to bother. And when we were on that spaceship, with Strange? He wanted my ideas, listened every suggestion I had.”

“Oh.” She wished, she just _wished_ that she had been given the chance to share the same opportunity with her dad. Maybe it was selfish, maybe it was petty jealousy, but oh. How she wished she’d gotten the chance to have those experiences with her dad, too.

Again, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Peter said, “It would have been the same with you, you know. He would have listened to your ideas, sought them out. That’s where I think I failed.”

“Peter, you haven’t failed at all, why....”

“I’ve been trying to keep you safe,” he said. “Much like I think Mr. Stark once wanted to keep me safe. Be a kid, have some normalcy. Something like that,” he shook his head. “But you and I were never really normal kids, huh?”

“Not really,” Morgan smiled.

“So, yes. I want you to train more. Because you should be ready. Because if something ever happened to me, if there is anything like a legacy for me to leave...if there’s anyone that I know, I KNOW would be there, planting her feet and standing up to a madman threatening the world after I’m gone...it’s you, Morgan. It’s always been you.”

“Pete.” Her throat tightened at the thought of Peter not being there, of the brother and the friend she couldn’t have survived without being gone. She just couldn’t imagine it.

“You’ll be the one to step up and save the day. Just like your dad. You’re the one I’d trust to wear the crown,” he said, and Morgan blinked because what the hell did that mean? Peter only shook his head again with a soft smile and said, “One day you’ll get it. Took me a while. Mostly because it wasn’t a Star Wars reference.”

Snorting, Morgan leaned against him and dropped her head on his shoulder. “That sounds about right.”

“So. We’ll go over all the mistakes. Your mom gets told everything. And we go from there, alright?”

“Okay,” Morgan agreed. “Thanks, Pete.”

“It’s the truth,” he said simply. When his arm came up to wrap around her, she snuggled in.

“Peter?” she said after a while.

“Hmm?”

“How are we....we have to....” She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shoulder. “Dad’ll be leaving soon.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, voice hoarse.

“We have to....we have to...”

The arm around her tightened. “Say goodbye? Yeah.”

“How?” Morgan managed, chest tightening.

“I don’t know,” Peter said, so quietly she barely heard. “But we’ll do it together, okay?”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Morgan nodded. “Okay.”

There really wasn’t anything more they could do.

 

 

 

It wasn’t long before the door opened and a familiar voice had her lifting her head.

“There’s no alpacas out there,” her dad complained as he strode into the kitchen. “I mean, I get it, it’s a good thing, otherwise they would have been fried all to hell what with the Extremis army and all, but where’s my herd of little Geralds? Did you let your mother get rid of them? Morgan. Morgan, did you get rid of my alpaca?”

Lifting her head off Peter’s shoulder, Morgan laughed. “Dad, of course not. We just never got another one. You know Mom hated it when he ate her Goji berries.”

“She was the one who wanted an alpaca,” he muttered. “Alright, so no more alpacas. Place looks pretty similar otherwise, now that I’ve gotten the chance to really look at it. Kinda surprised by that. No upgrades over the years?”

Once again, Morgan’s throat grew tight. “No,” she admitted. “No one wanted to change it, we liked it....it was nice to keep it as it was. When you were here. Mom always said you were so happy here,” she said, having to stop and clear her throat. When Peter squeezed her shoulder, she leaned into him gratefully, taking a moment to blink the tears back.

“Yeah,” her dad mused, looking around. “I really was.” He stopped, glanced at Peter over Morgan’s head. “There was only one thing missing.”

She felt Peter duck his head, and she knew without looking his face would be bright red.

“So,” her dad continued, coming to a stop in front of them. “You two have a nice chat?”

Now Morgan’s face reddened. “Dad. I’m sorry...”

Shaking his head, her dad reached over, placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on Peter’s. “I gotta know you two will be okay,” he said. “I can’t go back if there’s even a slight chance...I gotta know. You’ll be okay, yeah? Take care of each other? Keep each other safe?”

Knowing he would never rest if he thought otherwise, Morgan lifted her hand, placed it on top of her father’s. “Of course, Dad.”

“Good,” he said, shifting to look at Peter.

“Yeah, Mr. Stark. I promise.”

“Right, good. Okay, then. Well. There’s one thing I have left to do.”

Morgan braced herself, leaning into Peter. He was leaving. It was time.

“I gotta go to the city,” her dad said instead. Unsure if she heard him right, Morgan tried to process what he’d just said, her mind trying to understand.

“What?” she asked. Why would he go to the city? What was he up to now?

“I’ve gotta make sure the serum we made for your mom works, Little Miss,” her dad said.

Peter blinked. “What? Mr. Stark, no. No, no, no.”

“Sorry, kid.” Smiling thinly, he pulled out the little vial they had brought with them from the past. “I need to see Pep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gerald and the alpacas really didn't need to be mentioned, but I loved the heck out of that deleted scene with Tony and Pepper, and so here they are! 
> 
> There are a lot of feels coming up ahead. Just FYI. Lots and lots of Tony/Iron Fam feels.


	15. Chapter 15

His face was fucking everywhere.

That shouldn’t have been so odd. It wasn’t as if it wasn’t everywhere during his time, although after the Snap there were perhaps fewer than there used to be. It was something that was so ingrained in him, once upon a time — seeing his face on bulletin boards, on news clips or even graffiti after he’d announced he was Iron Man — that seeing it now really shouldn’t have been any different.

Except it was. It really, really was.

Statues, artwork, and hell, even billboards still showed his face. But it was different now. Before, it was because everyone wanted to share insights or get to know more about the genius super-hero. He wasn’t a real person to everyone at that time, he knew that. He and the other Avengers had been on some sort of unparalleled level, that the world needed and looked up too.

He supposed that hadn’t really changed. But now, instead of citing his most recent sound-bites, they made homages to his life. To the man he had been, not just the hero. 

To his sacrifice. 

Whatever the hell that was.

God, how did Morgan and Peter stand it, he wondered, driving by yet another monument of Iron Man. How could they go past it, day after day? He would have been driven mad. It had been bad enough to see his father’s name everywhere after Howard had died. Not to mention all the monuments to the Vanished when the world collapsed after the Snap. It was part of what kept him at the lake house with Pepper and Morgan so often, though he came into the city when he could.

How had his family handled his face being everywhere during their grief? 

Though ten years was a long time, Tony mused, parking the car in front of the massive building with Pepper’s name. Maybe they were okay with it by now. He got out, pulled his hat down low and kept his sunglasses on his face, and walked into the building.

Honestly, his disguise was worthless and a terrible attempt at subtlety, but it didn’t truly matter, he had FRIDAY on his side. Quickly diverting the attention of the guards to other matters, FRIDAY led him through the lobby to the private elevator, where she over-rode the code and let him in. While waiting for the elevator to reach the top, he hoped Nat managed to rein Peter and Morgan in a little. He’d left them all working on the time traveling necessities and logistics of his and Natasha’s return back, a conversation he really didn’t want to be part of at the moment. There were things to do, goodbyes to make, and Tony really wasn’t fucking ready yet. 

The elevator reached the penthouse, and the doors opened. Talk about something else he really wasn’t ready for. Taking a deep breath, Tony stepped out, and made his way down the hall.

The room screamed Pepper. He supposed that made sense, seeing how the building had Potts written on the side of it, something that tickled him to no end. He always promised the next tower would have her name on it, and at some point, she’d gone through with it. He was glad. Her name had become his, but he wanted the world to remember that Pepper Potts was formidable in her own right, a badass and force no one should reckon with. 

Morgan had said they stayed here while she attended school and Pepper worked, saving the lake house for summer and Christmas vacations. He couldn’t blame them. The thought of being in the lake house without Pepper made him nauseous, he would have bolted like a deer if their positions had been reversed and he had been the one left behind. 

With soft steps, he turned to the right, following the directions Morgan had given him. Nebula and Rhodey had been called out by FRIDAY, and Pepper’s nurse was currently two floors down, preparing Pepper’s nightly medicine. The fact that she needed a nurse by her side so frequently also made his stomach turn — but he was there to fix that. By the time he left, she would be okay. 

A soft beeping filled his ears as he stepped into Pepper’s bedroom. They’d converted it to hold medical equipment, Morgan had said, and though he had been prepared for it, the sight of the machines surrounding the small figure on the bed still knocked the breath out of him. Shocked to his core, throat burning so badly he wasn’t sure he could breath, Tony forced himself to step further into the room and approach Pepper. 

She was still and pale, lips a little chapped, and face a little too gaunt for his liking. The soft pink pajamas she had on engulfed her slender form, and the way her hair fell across his face reminded him way too fucking much of Sleeping Beauty. Her chest rose and fell in time with the machines, but every so often she would twitch, her brows contorting, as if she were pained in her sleep, and Tony felt his heart breaking into a million fucking pieces. 

Kneeling on the floor, Tony took her hand in his, willing her to wake. He shouldn’t, he knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted to be able to speak to her, just once. The last ten years showed a little on her face — there were a few more laugh lines than he remembered seeing on his wife when he’d talked to her on the phone not long ago. A few more shadows under her eyes. When she didn’t wake, Tony pressed a soft kiss to the back of her hand, then gently lowered it, and stood to administer the serum he and Morgan had made. With swift hands he administered it, then sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through her hair, breathing in the familiar scent of her and wishing like hell things could end up differently. 

When she woke, she’d be better. He knew that with every fiber of his being, knew that she would be okay. And he needed to get back before the nurse or Rhodey made their way back, FRIDAY could only buy him so much time. But he found himself lingering. He needed to hear Pepper, _this_ Pepper’s voice. Needed to hear from her that she was okay, that he hadn’t fucked up when he died on her. Hadn’t made her life a living hell. Morgan had said that they were okay, but he needed to hear it from Pepper, because before Morgan, it had always been him and Pepper. The two of them, and no one else. Yes, there was Rhodey, and Happy, and the Avengers and Peter, but…for as long as he could remember, it was him and Pepper. 

_You’re all I have too, you know._

He’d taken that away. When he’d died, however it had gone down, he’d broken their unit. Their family. And despite Morgan’s words, he was terrified that he’d made a mistake. 

But she didn’t wake. Trying to squash down the devastating disappointment, Tony stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. He had a decision to make. Logically, he knew he didn’t, knew that he had to go back to the past, to the Pepper and Morgan he had there, or everything he’d done in this time could get massively fucked up. 

But the thought of leaving Peter and Morgan, and this Pepper, who was so frail and all alone, made him feel like someone was shoving their arm into him like the guy in _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_ , and ripping his heart right out of his fucking chest. 

“Tony?” 

He flinched so hard he nearly fell over, then looked down to see Pepper staring confusedly up at him. Quick as a flash, he was on his knees again, getting down so she didn’t have to crane her neck, and reached out a hand to run a finger across her cheek.

“Hey, Pep,” he said softly. 

Eyes filling with tears, Pepper made a small, anguished sound that shattered his ravaged heart further, mouth dropping open to form a small O, before her chin began to wobble and she struggled to get up. 

“Hey, hey, whoa,” he said, reaching out to steady her, to try and get her to stay in the bed.

But his wife was no pushover for anybody, and turned to grab onto his forearms. “T-Tony? TONY?”

“Yeah, honey. It’s me. Hi.” 

“Oh my God,” she said, a single, distressed tear spilling out and running down her porcelain cheek. “Tony. Am I…Am I dead?”

“No,” he said quickly, squeezing her hands. “No, Pep. You’re going to be just fine. I made sure of it.”

“How…Tony, what…” 

“Let’s just say I’m here to be your Guardian Angel for a bit,” he said, feeling his own eyes burn. “I probably shouldn’t have, but I…I needed to see you.” 

“YOU needed to…” Pepper choked out a laugh that quickly turned into a sob. “God, Tony, do you have any idea how much I miss you?” 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, hating the future version of himself that did this to Pepper. Sure, he might have saved the world, or universe, or whatever, but at what cost? He’d destroyed the one thing that meant a thing to him. He’d destroyed his family. 

“No,” Pepper said firmly, tightening her grip. “Don’t be. Don’t be sorry. You…if you hadn’t done what you did, Morgan would never have gotten the chance to grow up. Peter wouldn’t have gotten to live. Don’t be sorry, Tony. I’m so proud of you.” 

“You…” the air left him in a whoosh, had him sitting back on his heels. “You are?” 

“Of course I am,” she said softly. “I always was. But I miss you. So much. Every day, Tony.” 

“I’m sorry, Pep. I’m sorry I’m not here.”

“Me too.” She said, leaning back into her pillows again. Exhaustion lined her face, and her eyes closed briefly, though she frowned and popped them back open. “Am I really going to be okay? Morgan’s been so worried.” 

Tony looked to where the Extremis correction flowed into her IV. “Yeah, baby. You’re going to be fine.” He sat on the bed again, stroked her hair. “You should rest. It’s going to be okay.” 

For some reason, that made Pepper’s chest hitch, another small sob erupting out of it.

“Shit, shit, what’d I do?” he asked, looking her up and down. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor? Shit, Pep, you should be okay, but if you aren’t feeling like it…”

“No, no. I feel fine, Tony. Better than I have in months. I just…if I rest, I have a feeling you’re going to be gone when I wake.” 

Now it was current himself that he hated. If there was such a thing as hell, he was pretty sure he was currently in it. “I can’t stay,” he told Pepper in a strangled voice he didn’t even recognize, hating himself, hating time travel, hating god-damn fucking Thanos. Somehow this was all his fault. 

“Then rest with me,” she said firmly, pulling at his arm. “Just for a little while. And it will give me the strength to carry on when I wake.” 

He curled around her, at a total loss. Pepper had always been strong, standing tall when others crumpled, and now was only a small demonstration of her inner strength and certainty. He was pretty sure he’d never deserved her. 

And again, the decision that shouldn’t be a decision, the choice that he shouldn’t have to truly make, rippled through the back of his mind. He could stay here. Maybe things would still work out in the past, somehow, if he did. Maybe there would still be a way for Natasha to go back, to prepare to do whatever the two of them had done, and Tony could stay with his family here. 

But then he would be breaking a promise to the younger Morgan. If he never went home, never kept his promise for ice cream and books about Elmo, would things really go the way they were supposed to? 

With trembling hands, he pulled Pepper into his arms, hating the entire fucking universe he’d supposedly saved. To preserve the past he had to ignore the future, and when his wife was snuggling into him, reverently saying his name because she’d been alone the last ten years, it was becoming harder and harder to make the right choice. 

“I love you,” Pepper said into his neck, sending chills down his back. “It’s always been you, Tony. And I can tell you’re conflicted, that you’re trying to find some reason to stay.” 

Lifting her head, she pressed her face to his, situating it so that their foreheads rested on each other. “You can’t stay. Whether you’re a figment of my imagination, or a dream, or this is real and you have to go back to wherever it is you came from…we both know you can’t stay here. But it’s okay. I’m going to be okay,” she said, when the sob broke out of him this time. “I have Morgan, and the Parkers, and Happy and Rhodey and Bruce. Nebula has made it her life’s goal to make sure Morgan and I are safe. And Harley works for R&D now. He’s here all the time, making sure Morgan and I are okay, nagging us to go out and live our lives. He’s incredibly stubborn.”

Tony blinked, then damned near smiled. Of course the little shit would make his way to the R&D department. Of course Harley would watch over Morgan and Pepper. Over fifteen years later, and that kid was still saving Tony’s ass. 

But indecision still tore within him, ripping him in two. “Pepper,” he croaked. “How can I…I can’t leave….”

“We’re going to be okay,” Pepper said again, nuzzling her face to his. “Morgan and I aren’t alone, Tony. We have the family that you made taking care of us. We have the creations that you made watching over us, too. We aren’t alone. And I see you every night. You’re always there, in my dreams, Tony. And one day, when it’s really my time, I’ll see you again.” 

“Pepper,” he managed, holding her as close as he dared. Trembling, he brushed his lips on her forehead, breathing her in. “How do you always know…”

“Because I know you,” she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Melting into her, Tony poured every ounce of love he had into the kiss, hoping Pepper knew, that she would always know, how much she meant to him. 

“I love you,” he said, when the kiss ended and Pepper laid her head on his chest. “I’ll always love you, Pep.” 

“I love you too, Tony,” she said, voice drowsy with sleep. “Always.” 

 

 

 

They were all asleep when he got back.

That in itself wasn’t surprising. He wasn’t sure how much time had actually passed since he’d found Morgan at the diner, but it felt like eons. Between fixing Extremis, Peter’s arrival, traveling through time and battling Osborn, Tony felt like he’d lived a thousand days. 

But now it was time for those days to be over.

Leaving Pepper had nearly killed him. She’d slept on while he’d gotten up, curling her hand onto the pillow like she used to curl it onto the reactor. Walking away had been the hardest thing he’d ever have to do, even though he knew staying would only hurt her also. He was fucked, either way. 

So he’d gotten up, trusting her words. She would be okay. He wasn’t sure he would ever be, but he had to believe Pepper. 

Now he stared at Peter and Morgan curled up together on the couch, legs entwined and heads drooped back, like they’d done so a thousand times before. Old Man Steve snored quietly in an armchair, Natasha dozing lightly in the chair next to him. 

He wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to do this. 

The urge to say fuck it all and rush back to Pepper ran through every nerve in his body. He was so tense, so tempted to do it, that he almost didn’t hear the small chirp when it sounded behind him.

But then he heard it again, a bit louder this time, and Tony spun around to see DUM-E waiting patiently behind him.

“Hey, buddy,” Tony said, reaching up to pat DUM-E’s strut. “Morgan said you were still around. Looks like you avoided community college after all, huh?” 

As if in answer to his question, DUM-E life his arm, and it was then that Tony realized the bot held a smoothie in his claw.

Tony broke.

He just crumpled, knees giving completely giving out, and collapsed around DUM-E, wrapping his arms around the bot. DUM-E let out a distressed little beep, lowering his arm to put the smoothie on the table, and then stood very still. Tony clung to him, like he had so many times before when he wasn’t sure he’d get through the night, remembering how Morgan said she grew up with DUM-E and FRIDAY. At the time, he hadn’t really realized what that meant. 

But now he did. His bot, the first little piece of the family he’d made for himself all those years ago, was still there. The fact that the bot was still functioning, all these years after Tony created him…it was kind of a miracle, that his code still worked at all, that he was still the same old DUM-E, hell-bent on giving Tony smoothies even if the rest of the world was falling apart. Still taking care of him. 

Of all the ones to watch over his family, of course there would still be DUM-E. 

“You’ve been watching over them for me, huh? Thanks, buddy,” Tony said, wiping his eyes and patting the strut again. Whirring, DUM-E’s arm reached up and latched onto Tony’s shirt. Tony’s eyes burned again. “Miss me? Sorry I’m not around. But you’ve got Morgan and Pep and Peter, right? You keep an eye on them for me? Make sure you spray Parker with the fire extinguisher every so often, keep things entertaining, alright?”

DUM-E let go of his shirt, chipping excitedly.

“Yeah, I know you will, bud,” Tony laughed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Then he lowered his head to rest on DUM-E’s strut. “Good boy.” 

“Morgan’s taken good care of him,” Natasha said behind him. Tony snorted, knowing he really shouldn’t be surprised the Black Widow had snuck up on him. Patting DUM-E one last time, he lifted his head to look at Natasha. 

“Yeah,” he said, pride flaring up. With as old as DUM-E was, that couldn’t have been easy. But DUM-E was just as he remembered, not a bit different. 

Morgan was going to be a hell of an innovator when it came to robotics and AI.

Taking several deep breaths, Tony stared at the group in the living room. “Jesus, Nat. How are we supposed to do this?” 

“Just like anything else, I guess,” she said, after a few moments. “One step at a time.” Eyes flicking over to Steve, she sighed, and ran a hand through her red-blonde hair. “This is kind of new territory for me.”

“You mean of all the things you’ve done you haven’t time traveled before? Romanoff, I’m shocked. I thought there was nothing you haven’t done.” 

“Things are different here,” she said, looking around the house. “But…it’s good. It’s better, even. We did something to help get them back. The Vanished.”

“You picked that up, too, huh?” Tony asked. 

Nodding, Natasha looped her arm through his. “So we have to go back, have to accomplish whatever it is we do to bring them back. Kinda sucks, though.” 

Barking out a laugh, Tony fought back another wave of emotions at the thought of actually saying goodbye. “Yeah, Yeah, it really does.” 

“I don’t think it’s really goodbye, though,” Natasha mused, smiling softly at Morgan. “Who knows what will happen now that time travel’s a possibility?” 

Tony’s head snapped to hers, eyes narrowing sharply. “What?” 

Before she could respond, the air shimmered in front of them. Tony frowned at it, preparing to shout to FRIDAY for a suit, before it twisted into a familiar orange orb. 

_Well, Jesus,_ Tony thought, dropping Natasha’s arm and snorting out a laugh. _The gang’s all here._

Stephen Strange stepped through the portal, annoyance all over his face, and jabbed a finger at Tony and Natasha. “The two of you are making my job extremely difficult.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Hugs Tony, Pepper and Dum-E tightly.*


	16. Chapter 16

Morgan woke with a jolt, the hair on the back of her neck standing straight up, like the time she’d shocked herself working on an outlet. Grabbing her necklace, she prepared to call her suit when she noticed her dad and Natasha talking to Stephen Strange in the kitchen.

Oh, she thought with a sigh of relief. It was only Strange. He always made the air charge when he appeared out of nowhere, she had nothing to fear. It was only the magician.

Then her entire body stiffened, and she looked for somewhere, anywhere to escape.

She was so busted.

Beside her, Peter also tensed, then got up and stalked to the kitchen. “What’s _he_ doing here?” He snarled.

Her dad blinked, clearly taken back by Peter’s tone. She had to admit, it was an unusual one to hear coming from the usually sweet Peter, but it was pretty much a constant every time Strange showed up.

He’d never forgiven the wizard for the role he’d played in her dad’s death.

It was one of the few things they disagreed on. When she was little Morgan hadn’t understood his role, what he had done. As she grew older…her mother had explained it when she’d asked, told Morgan the whole story. But she’d also said that she didn’t think Strange was to blame, either. Not like Peter thought. Peter would always hiss and state that Strange had led her dad to the battle like a pig to slaughter, but…

Morgan saw the regret and pain that crossed his face every time Strange saw her. She didn’t think it was that simple. She just couldn’t hate the Bleeker Street Magician.

But he was well used to Peter’s feelings by now. So instead of answering Pete’s question, Strange ignored Peter and stared over his head at Morgan.

“Miss Stark,” he said, in that long-suffering tone he had. “I know for a fact Dr. Banner has stressed the importance of not using time travel to solve problems to you.”

Which was basically the equivalent of telling a toddler not to touch the shiny red button, but Morgan kept that to herself. “I know,” she said. “It’s just that...”

“Hey, hey, hey Dumbledore, you don’t get to come in here and make judgment calls. Morgan had her reason,” her dad interrupted, sending Strange a glare similar to Peter’s.

“I get that. But you need to return to your time,” Strange said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If you and Natasha don’t go back and make the decisions you did previously, everything will collapse,” Strange said, looking to Steve, and then Peter and Morgan. “The three of you know how bad that is.”

“So what do we do?” Morgan whispered, feeling like scum. She’d done this. She’d threatened the return of millions, all so she could save her mother and have a few moments in time with her dad. There had to be some way to make it right. 

“Send them back,” Strange directed. 

“Yeah, okay, we got that,” her dad said. “We were getting to that anyway.” Taking a deep breath, he reached out for Peter and Morgan. “Listen, you two…” he faltered, opening and closing his mouth a few times.

“Tony…” Strange said, when a minute had passed.

“Christ, Strange, do you think I _want_ to say goodbye to them?” her dad snapped. “Give me a minute. Is that too much to ask?” 

Strange flinched. A small, subtle tremor, but Morgan saw it. 

“I’m sorry, Tony,” he said again, quieter this time, as if the words cost him. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve said that before,” he dad muttered, then froze, looking like someone had doused him cold water.

“Dad?” Morgan asked, as the same time Peter said, “Mr. Stark?”

“You’ve said that before,” he repeated, then let go of Morgan and Peter to whirl around at Strange. “It worked, then? The one in fourteen million, or whatever?” 

Slowly, Strange nodded. 

“We win?” her dad asked, voice trembling a little. Next to him, Natasha also went still, eyes wide while she processed what was being said. “It’s all undone? I know the Vanished are back somehow what with you and Pete standing here and all, but…the threat is gone? We win? We really win?” 

Stephen nodded again.

Taking a shuddering breath, her dad turned back to Peter and Morgan. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nat saying something to Steve, but couldn’t hear it, not with the way thunder rumbled through her brain like Thor was about to arrive. Things were happening too quickly, she wasn’t ready, she couldn’t say goodbye yet…

“Peter, Morgan…” her dad huffed out a puff of air, putting his hands on their shoulders. “Okay, okay, fuck. I can do this. Remember what I said, alright? Both of you. I’m proud of you two, so fucking proud...” he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them again, they were bright, and shining, and Morgan’s own eyes welled as well.

“Dad....” she whispered.

“You two are the best things to happen to me. I’ll always be grateful I got to see you grown up like this. That I know you both are safe, and happy. Keep taking care of each other. Promise me that.”

“I promise, Mr. Stark,” Peter vowed. “I promise.”

“Good,” her dad said, letting go of Morgan to wrap Peter up in a hug. Dimly she realized across the room Steve was holding on fiercely to Nat as well.

“You’ve done good, kid,” her dad whispered in Peter’s ear, before giving him a quick kiss on the head.

Then he let go, and turned to Morgan. “Mor.”

If his voice hadn’t caught, hadn’t stumbled on her name, maybe, just maybe, she could have kept it together. But as soon as he said her name, she knew she didn’t have a chance. Rushing into him, Morgan wrapped her arms around him tight, breathing him in and burying her face in his shoulder, one last time.

“I love you, Little Miss,” he whispered. “Take care of your mom. And yourself. Don’t forget what I said. Don’t forget to be Morgan.”

Morgan was crying so hard she wasn’t sure she could respond. Trying to take a deep breath didn’t work, she only managed to snort and sob further, squeezing her dad tight, as if that would keep him there with her, as if she wouldn’t have to let him go. 

“Sweetie,” her dad murmured, stroking her hair. “Morgan.” 

“I love you,” she managed, through the sobs wracking her body. “I love you, I love you 3,000. Dad….” 

“I love you 3,000 too,” he said, resting his head on hers. “Whatever that means. Remember that if I could, I’d stay. Or keep you in the past with me. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that I can’t.”

“I know,” Morgan said, finally able to get ahold of herself a little. “Me too. But I’m proud of you, Dad. I’m so sad you have to go. But I’m…I’m strong like Mom,” she said, making him huff out a small laugh. “And I’m happy,” Morgan continued, though her voice broke a bit. “Happy that we got the time that we did. That you were there for me. Until you couldn’t be.”

“If you’re happy, I’m happy,” he whispered. 

“I love you,” she said again. 

“Love you too,” he said, kissing her cheek, and pulling back. Though she wanted to scream, to beg him not to leave, she stepped back, making her hands into fists so that she didn’t have the urge to grab him and never let go. At the soft noise beside, Morgan turned to see Natasha, and flung her arms around the Back Widow. 

“Bye, Auntie Nat,” she whispered into Natasha’s hair.

“Goodbye, Morgan,” Natasha replied. “Remember what I said, too, alright? You’re not alone. Don’t hide away.”

“Okay,” Morgan said, leaning back and wiping her eyes. 

With a searching gaze, Natasha studied her for a few moments, then nodded. Walking over to her dad, she accepted the little vial he held out, and they both engaged the armor. 

Morgan’s knees started trembling. Terrified for a moment that they would buckle, that she would simply collapse, she bit her lip, struggle to keep it together, to not make this harder than it already was. 

A strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her up. Ridiculously grateful, Morgan leaned into Peter, feeling the way his body shook as badly as hers. 

“I’ve got you,” Peter whispered, while her dad and Natasha grabbed hands. “We’ve got this.” 

Her dad glanced up, saw the two of them supporting each other. And grinned fiercely. “The two of you have definitely got this. You could probably take over the world if Pep would let you. I left something for each of you, FRIDAY will hook you up. Don’t forget to keep your promise. Take care of each other. And don’t do anything I would do,” he said, and suddenly, Peter snorted and was laughing, the sorrow in his face melting away a little. 

“And definitely don't do anything I wouldn't do,” her dad added, and Nat was rolling her eyes, but somehow a little spark of happiness rippled through Morgan too, despite the overwhelming sadness trying to consume her. 

“There's a little gray area in there,” her dad continued. “That's where you two operate. Fight the good fight together. Love you, 3,000.”

And then they were gone. 

 

 

Later, Morgan sat in the workshop in her father’s MIT hoodie. Every inch of her ached, her head pounded from all the crying, and her face was red and splotchy. The last several hours had gone by in a daze. Her dad was gone. She and Peter had sank to the floor, holding onto each other for dear life, and simply stayed there until they could carry on again. At some point, Steve and Strange had left, leaving them to their grief.

Her mom called — she was doing great, better than great. That, at least, snapped Morgan out of it enough to feel something other than numbness. Her mom would be okay. She had done that one thing right, at least. 

With a sniffle, Morgan looked out over the workshop, easily picturing her father standing at one of the tables, working on a project. It had always been something she recalled from her childhood, watching her dad work while a rock song blasted obscenely from the speakers, but now she could envision it even stronger than before. If she looked close enough, she could see herself working next to him, as she had at the Compound. 

“FRIDAY?” she asked quietly. 

“Yes, Mini Boss?” 

“Dad said…he said he left something for me?” Part of her wasn’t sure was ready to see it yet, but at the same time, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she did. “Can you help with that?” 

“Of course, Morgan,” FRIDAY replied. “One moment.” 

The air in front of her flickered, and then suddenly her dad’s image appeared, standing in front of her. 

Squeezing her eyes shut, Morgan had to fight back another sob (she really didn’t think her head could handle another bout of tears) and then nodded. “Okay, FRIDAY. Go ahead and play it.” 

The image wavered for just a moment, and then her dad started speaking.

“Hey, Little Miss. Hopefully you get this okay. I’m currently recording this while Peter is lecturing you to death in the kitchen…which is just…weird. The kid being the responsible one is weird, but it’s also kinda poetic justice after all he put me through. Give him hell, okay?” he asked, grinning. “But not too much hell, don’t give your Mom a heart attack. Speaking of. There’s a few things we need to go over about today.” 

Morgan’s stomach dropped to her toes. Oh, God. Was he going to tell her all the ways she’d messed up during the battle? Tell her that he was disappointed in her after all? 

“You were incredible, Little Miss,” her dad said, and Morgan blinked, because, what? 

“Granted, there were a few errors, that I’m pretty sure Peter is enlightening you on even as I say this, so I won’t bother focusing on that. But I couldn’t help but notice you’re using a suit that’s a little older than I would like. It was ages ago when I made the schematics for your suit, and I’m sure you and FRIDAY can upgrade it or create a new one as needed, I know how smart you are, but…well. I saw an opportunity for a few improvements, so I left them with FRIDAY. Nothing but the best for my baby girl,” he said. “I need to know you’re safe. And with some of these adjustments, I know you will be. You were like an avenging angel out there today, until things got a little out of hand. It was amazing, Morgan. Being able to see you?” he smiled, the grin covering his entire face, making the corner of his eyes crinkle. “Best thing I could have asked for. I’m so, so proud of you. Keep it up, Little Miss. Use the suit, be part of the team, if you wish. Follow through on your Footsteps Initiative. Protect the world. Be its Guardian Angel. God knows it needs one. Just don’t forget to be yourself, and keep your head up, yeah? Fight the good fight. And never forget that I love you.” 

His image winked away, to reveal a holo-image of Morgan’s purple suit. For a second, Morgan wanted to swish it away, to make her dad’s message come back, but then she caught on to some of the adjustments her dad had made. Tilting her had, she studied the schematics, not understanding at first. 

Then she noticed the note scrawled at the bottom. 

_“Don’t think I didn’t notice everyone calling you Iron Man’s daughter,”_ her dad’s familiar writing scrawled. _“Not that it isn’t accurate, but you deserve to be recognized on your own. Your Mom is Rescue, so I thought this would be appropriate for you.”_

And then the image in front of her shifted, to reveal the Cluster Cannon circling around her. As usual, it had two canons on her arms, but instead of the cannons appearing out of the back of the suit in parallel lines, it was completely different. As the image of the suit hovered in the air and the cannons swirled around it, she realized it gave her suit the appearance of having wings. 

_Be its Guardian Angel,_ she heard in her mind. She laughed, then looked down to the rest of the note, seeing her thoughts were in line with her dad’s. 

_Iron Angel_

“Iron Angel. That really fits,” Steve said behind her. Morgan whirled and blinked at him, surprised he was still there. She’d been certain he’d left with Strange. 

“Tony always was good at seeing things in a certain light,” Steve continued, smiling sadly at the image of her suit. “At seeing things others couldn’t.” 

“Uh. I guess,” Morgan said. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t really want Steve in the workshop at the moment. Her day had been long enough. She didn’t really want to be around anybody. 

“You know, Strange had more than one reason for stopping by today,” Steve said. 

That caught her attention. “What?” 

“He knew what had happened. Knew you’d found a way to make time travel work for you, without Pym’s particles.”

“And came to yell at me for it?” Morgan sighed. “Yeah, I get it, Cap. I won’t do it again.”

“Actually, I don’t think that was it at all.” 

Morgan stared. “What?” she repeated. 

“After Tony left, he said something I thought you’d want to hear.” 

Impatience snapped through her like a whip when he didn’t continue right away. “Well? What?” 

Steve shook his head. “Sometimes you are so much like him.”

“ _Steve_ ,” she said trying, very, very hard not too snarl. Her mother had taught her to be respectful to her elders.

“Your dad did what he did to keep you and Peter safe. And your mom, and the rest of the universe, but the main point of it? Was to protect you, and Peter. He did what he had to in order to protect you.”

Her brows furrowed. “Yeah, I know that.”

“But now he knows it works,” Steve said. “He made the snap hoping he was right and that it would work, before. Now…thanks to the little trip you took…he'll know it works, when it all goes down.”

Morgan’s face flushed. “Yeah, yeah. I screwed up…”

“No, Morgan. That isn’t what I’m saying.” Steve shook his head. “Of all people, I’m not one to lecture you about time travel. I told Steve Rogers in 2012 that Bucky was alive. I let Loki escape that time with the Tesseract. I created a few alternate universes. I went back to 1944 to be with Peggy, and created a few more. Believe me, I’’m not here to judge or lecture.” 

“Then what ARE you here for?” 

“To tell you why Strange really stopped by today. What happened with your dad, and his part in it, haunts him. Peter doesn’t understand that, but I think you do.”

“Yeah,” Morgan agreed. “I do. Kind of.” 

“Well. To tell you the truth, I think he feels like he owes your dad one. So his appearance here, and his chat with your dad? It wasn’t for no reason.”

“Steve, I’m sorry, but if you don’t just _tell me_ …” 

Steve smiled. “In that little universe, Tony knows he’ll win. And he’ll do anything, absolutely anything, to make sure that it will happen.” 

“Yeah, so he’ll just make the same choices, and…”

“Yes, he will,” Steve nodded. “Even though he had a visitor from the future. He’ll still do what it takes.” 

Morgan stilled. “What are you saying?” 

“I think you’ve figured it out. But just in case…try not to create anymore alternate realities. Though he deals with them all the time, I think Strange would prefer we not create another one.”

“Steve?”

“Good luck,” Steve said, turning to leave. Then he looked back. “Say hello for me when you visit.” 

Morgan stared at the hall long after Steve left, mind racing a million miles an hour. Was he serious? Was this something she could truly do, something that she got to keep?

Did he really just give her his blessing? 

Mulling it over a few more minutes, Morgan decided that she didn’t have to do anything right then, and that this time, she would consult Peter. But a lightness was in her heart as she considered the possibilities. There were so, so many, if she were right. 

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Morgan set her jaw and went to get a cup of coffee. “FRIDAY? You there?” 

“Of course, Mini Boss.” 

“Turn on some of dad’s old tunes, please?” Morgan asked, walking up to the image of Iron Angel. A familiar beat started up, making her smile. One upon a time, she’d snuck down to the workshop way past her bedtime, hearing this song play while her dad worked, and watched him create wonders. 

Of course FRIDAY would choose this one.

Morgan twirled the image of Iron Angel, and grinned at the guitar riff. Picking her coffee cup back up, she said, “Keep it cranked, Fry. We’ve got some work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, okay, lots to mention here. Hopefully you all don't hate me. Anyone need a hug??? 
> 
> Some of Morgan's dialogue while saying goodbye is from another Endgame deleted scene. I thought it worked well here, so shamlessly used it for my own plot. Tony's dialogue while saying goodbye is from the car scene in Homecoming, which Peter remembers well and is why he starts laughing.
> 
> Calling Morgan Iron Heart would have fit well, but Riri Williams is pretty badass and I didn't want to take that from her and call Morgan Iron Heart, so we have Iron Angel. 
> 
> Steve here is a little OOC for all the other Marvel movies, but pretty (hopefully) in character for what we were given in Endgame. Like Strange, I think he too feels a debt to Tony and wants to do what he can to make things right. Like Morgan, I just can't hate Strange for what happened. He looked so anguished over what he had to do...so this is him trying to make things right, by appearing and giving Tony just he right information he needs and Morgan the info _she_ needs.
> 
> (As for the time travel, much like what went down in Endgame in 2012, Morgan accidentally created a new reality by popping in to see her dad, and taking him and Nat to the future. I hope it makes sense, please don't hate too much if it doesn't!)


	17. Chapter 17

“Fuck,” Tony said, wiping his face. The Iron Man helmet stared up at him judgmentally, and Tony scowled down at it. He hadn’t made quite enough adjustments yet. Since he’d been back, he’d only managed to create few new suits. 

Pepper’s, at least, was completely done. That was a relief. Whatever was coming, whatever it was that took him out, Pepper would be protected. And, he knew, so would Morgan.

Now he just had a few more to work on. 

“You gonna take a break anytime soon, Stark?” Natasha asked.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. Since they had come back, she’d been just as driven as he was. To be ready, to make sure they could face whatever came their way.

Whatever it took. 

But he’d kept his promises. Morgan had been given ice cream and three bedtime stories when he came home. Pepper hadn’t been out of his sight the first few days, he couldn’t bear to be away from her. And he’d set limits on the time he was working on the suits, on the time he obsessed over what he’d learned. He knew better than anyone that if he went too far, he’d break the things that meant most to him.

So every night, he stopped at six, no matter what. And went home to his wife and daughter.

He’d be ready. He wouldn’t fail. Strange had pretty much guaranteed it, and damned if Tony wasn’t going to ensure it. 

Tony spared at glance at his watch, saw he had about half an hour of work time left. “I’m just going to finish up,” he told Natasha. “You coming over for dinner tonight?” 

She smiled. “Yeah, Rhodey told me it was spaghetti night. We’ll be there. I’ll go clean up and see you at the lake house, alright?” 

“Sure,” Tony grunted, then turned back to the helmet. Instead of the familiar red and gold, for a moment he saw purple and silver. He ran his hand tenderly over the helmet, hoping that wherever she was, Teenage Morgan was okay. 

That she was still happy. 

“Fry? Give me some tunes to get me through the last half hour. Start with that one Morgan likes so much.” 

“Sure thing, Boss,” FRIDAY said, as Fight the Good Fight rolled through the speakers. Tony grinned. Even though it was toddler Morgan’s current favorite, he could absolutely see the Teenage Morgan he’d met blaring it in the lake house workshop, just like he was now. It was an easy picture to paint, Morgan in his MIT sweatshirt, working up a storm while Peter buzzed about and Triumph blared in the background.

It was a good thought. He hoped that wherever they were, it was true, and they were together with Pepper, and his whole family was at peace. 

He was nearly finished when the song ended, and put down his tools. As he did, he caught the whisper of a noise, glancing up to see a shimmer in the air.

For a moment, he could only stare. Then the grin started, spreading over his face and making him feel lighter than he had in weeks.

_Of course,_ he thought, laughing as the figure in front of him turned, and beamed right back. 

“Hey, Little Miss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END!
> 
> I like to think Morgan and Peter visit Tony whenever they can, causing all sorts of mischief and mayhem (now that Morgan has sorted a few time-travely things out and Strange, with his knowledge, has approved.) 
> 
> This was always where I was going to end it, so I hope you've enjoyed, and thank you to everyone who has kudos'd or commented along the way! Your kind words mean so very much to me.
> 
> The song that Morgan and Tony listen to is called _Fight the Good Fight_ by Triumph and is absolutely Tony's (and now Morgan's) song. It always makes me think of him. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
